


Almost Verona

by sssssssim



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Undercover Missions, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-12 09:01:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13544064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: Almost Veronais a couple's resort that offers a pool, a spa, various couple friendly activities and a private beach. It's also run by two evil aliens who kidnap young couples. Kara and Winn are sent atAlmost Veronaon an undercover op. It takes some time for them to get used to acting like they're a couple.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So. Guys. This is... 29000 words long, spread out in 5 chapters. You'll be getting one a day. There's fluff, there's angst, there's mild sexy times, there's a fighting scene and more angst. Enjoy!  
> 

 

‘Excuse me?’, Kara shrieked. Clearly, she heard J’onn wrong. There was no way he actually said-

‘I need you and Winn to pose as a couple and go undercover at a couple’s retreat.’

‘I thought I heard you wrong.’, Kara gulped, looking anywhere but at Winn. Considering it was just the two of them with J’onn in the conference room, she ended up staring at the martian, who raised an unimpressed eyebrow at her.

‘But why?’, Winn said kind of pointedly.

J’onn powered up the tvs. On them, pictures of different couples popped up. Various ethnicities, clearly various backgrounds and social status, but all about the same age as her and Winn.

‘In the past two months’, J’onn explained, ‘a dozen couples have gone missing from Central City and the surrounding areas. The FBI’s investigation revealed that all of them have disappeared after spending time at the _Almost Verona_ couple’s retreat.’

Winn snorted. ‘Really? _Almost_?’

J’onn ignored him. ‘The FBI never found any real evidence, but we do know that the couple who opened and runs the center are aliens.’

‘Fort Rozz escapees?’, Kara frowned. ‘Because I should be the last person you want to send undercover.’

J’onn shook his head. ‘They’re not from Fort Rozz.’

‘Then how did they get here?’, Kara kept on frowning.

‘How do you even know they’re aliens?’, Winn countered.

J’onn leveled them with a mildly annoyed look. ‘You will find all that information and more in the files I have prepared for you.’

Kara shrunk back at that, but Winn didn’t.

‘Why us? I mean, I get why Kara should go, but me? I have no field training.’

‘True.’, J’onn nodded. ‘But you have the hacking skills one might need to get into their network and, Agent Schott, you possess a quality that no other man in this organisation does.’

‘Oh yeah?’, Winn sounded subdued. ‘What’s that?’

‘You’re Supergirl’s best friend.’, J’onn smiled. ‘Nobody can fake that level of comfortableness.’

There was an eerie silence following that statement, which prompted Kara to look at Winn. He was already watching her, a swarm of emotions in his eyes.

‘We don’t have to do this.’, Winn said strongly.

Her eyes skipped to J’onn. ‘We kinda do.’

‘No, Kara.’, Winn sounded kind of mad. ‘If this is going to- If we-’, he took a deep breath. ‘We can’t be-’

‘It’s fine.’, she cut him off, managing to smile. ‘We can handle it.’

It wasn’t going to be easy, Kara thought. It was going to be awkward and stressful, but she knew they could do it.

Winn faltered. ‘If I lose you again-’

‘You won’t.’, she cut him off quickly.

‘But-’

‘No, Winn. You and I, we’re going to be best friends, always, and an undercover op with a few fake kisses is not going to change that!’

Again, Kara was certain of it. She wasn’t going to let anything get between their friendship, not again. She’d fight for it, tooth and claw.

‘Okay.’, Winn sighed, but smiled, briefly, at her, before turning to J’onn. ‘We’ll do it.’

J’onn was looking at them with a frown between his eyebrows. Clearly, he didn’t understand what they were talking about, because he wasn’t there when Toyman escaped from jail, when Winn confessed his feelings, when Kara rejected him and when everything between them was a mess.

‘So whatever you were talking about is not going to be a problem?’, J’onn asked slowly.

‘No.’, Kara said strongly. ‘We can do this.’

J’onn spent a few moments looking between the two of them, but in the end, he nodded.

‘You have two weeks to learn everything you can about _Almost Verona_ , its owners and your fake relationship.’

‘Really? You prepared a file for that?’, Winn sounded incredulous.

‘Alex did.’, J’onn smirked, before leaving the room.

Kara was going to kill her sister. By the looks of things, Winn was willing to help.

///

Kara did not speak to Alex that day, kind of pointedly. She wasn’t incredibly mad, she knew that she’ll get over it, but the least Alex deserved was to steam for a few days.

So Kara went to work. She told James the cliffnotes, he laughed hysterically for a full minute but, of course, said he’d approve her request. So after Kara submitted her vacation days application with HR, she got to work and compulsively did not think about the upcoming op.

Supergirl duty was pretty easy that evening, just a quick patrol around the city that didn’t reveal anything, so sooner than she would have thought, Kara was curled up on her couch with a glass of wine and the folders J’onn sent her.

They were… thorough.

Kara started by reading about the couple that ran _Almost Verona_ , John and Rose Romero. That’s what they called themselves, but the DEO did not know their real names, where they were from or what powers they had, if any. Nobody knew how or why the Romeros ended on Earth, or what their reason was, to kidnap and most likely kill human couples.

The files also provided Kara with the fake information available on the couple (born in Kansas, moved to California 10 years ago) and real information about _Almost Verona_. It was a pretty fancy looking place, modern and luxurious, but still cozy looking and very clean. There were several pools, thermal water ones as well, a 24h spa, a gym, yoga studio and, of course, a private beach. There were also various couple activities scheduled throughout the week, and Kara was pleasantly surprised to see that they weren’t really the counseling type. Instead, couples could go together to get massages, take yoga classes, dance lessons, various arts and crafts workshops, even a book club.

Kara and Winn will be spending three weeks at _Almost Verona_. It wasn’t going to be hardship, by the looks of things.

It will be awkward, though, a thought which brought Kara to the last file, titled _Kara &Winn: Introduction. _There was a single document, that told, in great detail, their fake love story.

She had to give it to Alex, the lies were very well thought, based on the truth. They met at CatCo, on Kara’s first day at work. They quickly became friends, and over time, that friendship solidified into something stronger and more passionate. When Winn left CatCo for another job, when they suddenly saw less of each other, they both realized just how much they meant to one another and finally did something about it.

That was not how it happened.

Winn did not ask her out to a very fancy restaurant only to change his mind halfway through the car ride and take Kara at the planetarium, instead. He most definitely did not kiss her during the Mars spotlight and they have not been dating for almost a year.

It could have happened, though. When Toyman was wreaking havoc and Winn was breaking down, if Kara would have reacted differently to his kiss, this planetarium scenario would have been perfectly plausible, for the two of them.

But that didn’t happen, and a lot of things happened instead. Both Kara and Winn fought for their friendship, since then to now, and they have managed to mend it. Of course Kara was afraid this op was going to screw things up again.

They have grown since then, as people and as friends. Mon-El was gone, but he had been there. Lyra was gone, but she had been there. And through that, Kara and Winn had stood side by side, only helping if the other one requested it, but there.

And that was why Kara thought they were going to be able to do it.

She got a text from Winn late that night. _Really, a planetarium? Like Supergirl needs to learn more about planets, that’s ridiculous._

 _I think it’s cute_ , she responded.

 _Well of course you do, it was a brilliant idea on my part_.

Kara snorted and went to sleep, pretty confident that by Winn’s side, they’ll be able to see this op through.

///

Five nights after that, even later at night, she got another text from Winn.

_I’m not gonna sit here and pretend it’s not gonna be awkward, because it will be. But could we maybe practice a little? Casual stuff, holding hands, that comfortableness J’onn mentioned._

It wasn’t a bad idea, so the next morning, before going into work, Kara went to the DEO. She brought Winn a cronut and coffee, casually putting her hand over his and wishing him a good day.

Sure, she felt very awkward and Winn’s cheeks were red, but they did it.

///

It went on from there. Winn called it _Operation Comfortableness_ , a pre-run to _Operation Verona._ Every time they’d see each other, they’d make a point to casually touch and it didn’t take long for it to not feel forced anymore.

Winn stopped by her apartment every night, no matter how late Supergirl finished up her work. They’d have dinner, watch a show, sit next to each other on the couch and it took only three evenings for them to start cuddling, and two more for it to stop feeling awkward.

‘We’re getting the hang of this.’, Winn said one evening, sounding pretty proud of himself.

Kara tilted her head, and quickly gave him a very chaste kiss on the cheek. Winn turned beet read, immediately.

‘We still have some small kinks to sort out.’, Kara teased.

‘Please rephrase that.’, Winn winced.

It was her turn to turn red.

///

Two days before they were set to leave, Winn surprised Kara by picking her up from CatCo, cheekily informing her that Supergirl got the night off and he had tickets to a movie.

It was all for show, really, because the _Operation Verona_ file said that Kara’s coworkers needed to be aware of the situation. They all became very aware, when Winn brought her flowers and casually intertwined their fingers together, excitedly telling everyone who asked about their upcoming holiday and not even flinching when people who knew him from before said something along the lines of ‘I didn’t know you two finally got together’.

To Kara’s surprise, they did actually go to a movie, and for burgers afterwards. They held hands most of the time and when Winn walked her to the door, when he kissed her cheek, neither of them was the color of a tomato.

‘We’ve got this, Supergirl.’, he whispered in a very teasing manner.

‘We sure do.’, she smiled.

Kara really did believe it.

///

The evening before they were set to leave for _Almost Verona_ , Kara and Winn found themselves once again in the DEO conference room, with J’onn and Alex giving them a very thorough explanation of what they should do, could and couldn’t do once they got there.

All communications going out of the retreat were tracked, so talk of Supergirl and the operation were to be kept to a minimum, and coded. There were certain expressions they had to learn, for example, if they needed an urgent extraction, they had to text Alex something along the lines of _I’m tired_. If they did not find any relevant information for their case, they had to say something about the food. Every day. If they did learn something, they’d have to say something about the drinks, and Alex will set up a secure, untraceable call.

J’onn was very insistent about the first thing Kara needed to do once entering a room, and that was to x-ray it for hidden cameras or bugs. Winn quickly agreed that it was a necessity, even if Kara thought that checking the bathroom will be a bit overkill.

They were supposed to snoop around _Almost Verona_ as much as they could, especially the management offices, but without getting caught. It was clear that Winn was nervous about this, but Kara put a hand on his knee and, smiling fleetingly at her, he relaxed a little.

Alex also thought it would be a good idea to get close to the Romeros, if possible. J’onn was nervous about this, thinking that maybe the aliens will be able to sense that Kara is one, as well. But it was worth a shot, as long as they stayed safe.

That was a recurring theme, Kara couldn’t help but notice. J’onn and Alex both emphasized that their safety was the most important thing.

Kara leveled them with a look. ‘You know I’ll do anything in my power to protect Winn, right?’

Winn sputtered, being utterly ignored by everyone. J’onn and Alex shared a look.

‘We know that, Kara.’, Alex said gently. ‘Of course we do. We’re just… nervous that you might, either of you might go too far with trying to protect each other.’

‘I can take care of myself, you know.’, Winn said a bit gruffly. ‘I mean, not all the time, sure, but most of the time, I can handle my own.’

‘We know.’, Kara said easily. ‘That’s why the looks these two keep giving us are annoying.’

Both Alex and J’onn sighed heavily at that.

‘I am worried’, he said, ‘that you’ll become too… immersed in yourselves to keep an eye out for danger.’

Kara couldn’t help but blush at that.

‘Whereas I’, Alex went on, ‘am afraid something will happen between the two of you’, Kara was breathing heavily by this point, ‘that will make your friendship explode and the op alongside it.’

She had no answer to that, because she knew exactly what Alex was talking about. Alex was afraid that they’d have a repeat: that Winn still had feelings for her, that the fake relationship will push him into admitting them, and that Kara would reject him. That would resemble an explosion, yes, but Kara didn’t think it was something that could happen. Not again.

Winn didn’t have feelings for Kara anymore.

‘I love you.’, he said, making Kara turn to look at him. He was smirking, slightly, something teasing in his eyes. It made her heart flutter with fondness and a smile quickly appear on her lips.

It was so very different from the last time Winn said those words.

‘Well, of course you do’, Kara nodded. ‘I am the best girlfriend anyone could ever have.’

Winn chuckled at that, kissing her temple and casually wrapping his arm around her shoulders. In retaliation, Kara pressed their sides together, and gently put her hands on his knee.

Alex was blinking very slowly at them, as J’onn was frowning.

‘Did you two really-’, he started, but Winn cut him off.

‘Nope, but it’s good to know we've got you fooled.’

They were both grinning as they detached themselves, and Kara couldn’t help but feel triumphant because of the baffled look J’onn was supporting.

‘Well, if you’ll excuse me’, Winn got up. ‘I should head home and pack. I’ll pick you up at 8?’, he asked Kara.

She nodded. ‘I’ll make breakfast, you grab the coffee.’

Winn was gone with that, but Alex stopped Kara from leaving.

‘Please tell me you know what you’re doing.’

‘Relax.’, Kara rolled her eyes, sparing J’onn a quick look. ‘What you’re thinking about, it’s dead and gone. We’ll be fine, we got this.’

Alex let her leave at that, but Kara still heard her mutter a mildly alarmed ‘You better’.

///

The drive to _Almost Verona_ took a little over six hours. Winn didn’t let Kara even think of driving his car, so she fell asleep, at some point early on. She kept waking up, and every time she’d see Winn focused on the road ahead, but lip singing along to whatever song was playing on the radio. He looked relaxed, sprawled against the seat, one elbow pushed to the door, sunglasses on his eyes. Kara went back to sleep without fault.

 _Almost Verona_ was a pretty fancy resort, so much so that Kara was very glad the DEO was in charge of expenses, because there was no way she would have been able to afford a three week stay.

But there was too much security. Armed guards at every exit, a ridiculous amount of security cameras, there were motion sensors lining the entire property. There was no doubt in Kara’s mind that the Romeros were doing something wrong, here.

Still, she had a part to play. So she smiled at the receptionist as Winn checked them in, she held his hand as they got on the elevator, and she did her very best to seem happy and giddy as they got into their suite.

It wasn’t that hard, considering the suite was absolutely gorgeous.

There was a large living room, with dark wood floors and large windows that led to a small balcony. There was a comfy looking couch, the only color in the room, because it was bright red. There was a top of the line entertainment center, with a ridiculously large tv and several gaming platforms, and a middle sized table in a corner, with complicated designs carved in the wood.

The room also had seven different hidden cameras and three bugs.

‘Let’s check the bedroom.’, Kara said.

The bedroom was just as nice, the bed’s frame carved beautifully, with a large dresser and a set of drawers. The bedspreads were blue, paired with a ridiculous amount of throw pillows. Kara kind of loved it.

‘Nothing here’, she whispered to Winn, ‘but the living room is packed with surveillance.’

‘I figured.’, he snorted. ‘Check the bathroom?’

It was an on-suite, and Kara did a double take as she opened the door. For one, it was just as large as the bedroom was, styled in white and chrome. It had a shower, with glass doors and big enough to house four people, and an equally large jacuzzi. The his and hers sinks were a given, and Kara noticed the plush bathrobes, but she stared for a longer while at the little basket of complementary toiletries, that beyond the usual soaps and shampoos, also had condoms and lube.

‘What’s wrong?’, Winn asked.

‘Nothing.’, she yelped, unconvincingly.

Of course, Winn came by her side.

‘Wow.’, he whispered. ‘This looks like the beginning of a fancy porno.’

She elbowed him, hard, in the stomach.

‘It’s clear.’, Kara sighed.

‘Well, there’s that.’, Winn nodded. ‘That, and the bedroom. Good, that’s good.’, he grinned at her. ‘Are you the type of woman who lives from her suitcase, or should I leave some room in that dresser for you, too?’

They could do this, Kara kept telling herself. They could totally do this.

///

The plan was to lay low for the first couple of days, get the hang of the place and gather enough information to be able to sneak into the management offices without trouble.

So that’s what they did.

They had lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, and it was absolutely delicious. Winn drank two coffees, and Kara couldn’t help but be concerned for him, but he waved her off. After that, they changed into their bathing suits and headed to the beach.

Winn barely put down his towel on a lounge chair, before he grinned at Kara, said a quick ‘race you’, and sprinted to the water.

Kara didn’t follow him immediately, but she couldn’t help but follow him with her eyes. Winn was a fit man, she knew this. Even if he wasn’t a wall of muscles and he did spend most of his life in front of a computer, Kara knew that he jogged, sometimes, and that he constantly made use of the DEO gym. So Winn being fit wasn’t supposed to be a shocker for Kara, but in her defence, she never saw him shirtless before.

The effect was somewhat ruined by Winn’s Lego themed swimming trunks and by the fact that he was laughing like a maniac as he ran straight into the water. He jumped and immersed himself completely, at some point, Kara could barely make out his figure, swimming slowly but surely away from the shore.

When Winn finally popped up out of the water, he grinned widely at Kara, making ridiculous and desperate hand movements that probably meant he wanted her to join him.

Kara took the time to snap a picture of him, but she did join him in the water afterwards. She didn’t run, she slowly made her way through the chilly water, letting her body adjust to the temperature before she started swimming to Winn’s side.

‘There’s security everywhere.’, was the first thing he said. ‘Even here, it’s ridiculous.’

‘Yeah.’, Kara nodded, having noticed the five different security guards patrolling the beach.

‘And they’re kinda staring.’, Winn added, and yes, that was accurate as well, their eyes were on Kara and Winn, even if they were trying to be stealthy about it.

‘Maybe cause we fit the profile?’, Kara ventured. ‘We’re the same age as the missing couples.’

‘And we’re the only youngsters here.’, Winn pointed out. ‘At least from what I saw at lunch, all the other couples are over 50.’

Kara sighed. ‘Well then, boyfriend.’, she wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘Let’s get this show on the road.’

Winn grinned, easily. He also kissed her forehead, before he promptly dunked both of them underwater.

///

They played in the water for an hour or so before going back to the beach. Winn lied face down on a lounge chair and promptly fell asleep. Kara waited ten minutes before covering him with her beach scarf to keep him from getting a sunburn. He mumbled something under his breath, turned his head to the side where Kara was, but didn’t wake up.

She let him sleep, opting for doing some research. They’ve found, in their suite, a surprisingly thick book, that showcased the facility and all the activities couples could take part in.

The book club was held by Rose Romero, so they will be attending that, clearly. There were two meetings a week, which wasn’t a lot, but if it helped them gather some information on Rose, they had to do it.

Kara decided, with dread, that they had to take dancing lessons, as well, because those were taught by John, once a week.

With that, they had three evenings a week planned. Kara’s eyes skipped to Winn. Still sleeping, nose smushed against his crossed hands, covered with her pink scarf, all except his feet. He probably wouldn’t mind Kara making their schedule, because despite the fancy restaurant and the beach, they were still working.

So she used the resort’s app to sign them up for both of the activities, telling herself she’ll let Winn chose two other activities they could do. 

Shutting off her tablet, Kara lied down on her front, intent on working up a proper tan, her head turning to look at Winn on instinct.

She was still nervous, about this whole thing. Kara was well aware that it could all crash and burn. One one hand, they were here to catch a pair of murderous aliens, but on the other hand, Alex and J’onn were right. Her relationship with Winn could easily explode from this experience, in more than one way.

Kara was so afraid for that to happen, and it was ridiculous, because while she felt anxious about this, she was also confident in her and Winn’s abilities to pull this off.

Because it felt… completely right, when they were in the water. Hands wrapped up around each other, joking and fooling around, laughing their asses off and generally, acting like children. There was always an underlying sense of doom that Kara felt, ever since she stepped through the doors of _Almost Verona_ , but with Winn by her side, she felt lighter. Happy, almost.

But it was only day one. They had a lot more to go.

With that thought in mind, and considering he’d been napping for two hours, Kara woke Winn up, by gently running her fingers through his hair and kissing his forehead, acutely aware of the two security guys watching them.

Dinner was a quick affair that evening, Kara and Winn having decided that eating at the resort restaurant was not only a good thing for their op, but also for their tummies.

Getting back to their suite, it was clear that Winn was tired as heck, and it was understandable, having started the day by driving and finishing it with a good enough workout in the ocean.

There was a bit of an awkward moment, as they chose which sides of the bed to sleep on, but they both got over it quickly. Winn fell asleep immediately, in a pair of shorts and a tank top, a sheet half heartedly thrown over his back. Kara read for another hour, texted Alex about how delicious the food was, but the long day got to her, as well, and she fell asleep.

It was barely 9PM.

///

She woke up ridiculously early, it wasn’t even 6 AM yet, but Winn was already up. He was in the living room, sitting at the table with a lot of food in front of him, his hair askew, holding on to a cup of coffee without actually drinking from it.

‘You’re adorable.’, she said as she made her way towards him.

There were cameras in the room, so she kissed his nose and let him wrap an arm around her waist, pushing his head to her stomach.

‘I sure am.’, he mumbled. ‘Sleep well?’

‘I did, actually.’, she gently ran her fingers through his hair, making him hum.

They stayed like that for a while, in silence. Morning cuddles were, apparently, a thing that Kara and Winn - the couple, did. But her stomach rumbled soon enough, making Winn chuckle and urging her to sit down next to him.

‘What’s the plan for today?’, Winn asked at some point.

‘Is there one?’, Kara shrugged.

‘We have the book club tonight, right?’

Kara nodded, her anxiousness spiking a little.

Winn was quick to put a hand on her knee. ‘I kinda feel like swimming. Like, properly swimming, not just splashing around.’

‘So, pool?’, Kara smiled. ‘Sounds good.’

And it was good. They spent two whole hours in the pool, swimming side by side. They didn’t hurry, but they still got a workout out of it. Winn still played, before they got out, wrapping his arms and legs around Kara’s body and saying _I’m an octopus_ over and over again as they went underwater.

Sure enough, there were two security guards watching the pool, stealthy watching them.

///

‘I don’t know what to do with myself.’, Winn said once they got back to the suite and showered.

Kara frowned at him.

‘There’s no work to do’, he looked wide eyed, ‘no deadline, no emergency. We have nothing to do until it’s time for lunch, it’s weird.’

She couldn’t help but smile. She wanted to remind him that they were here on a job, but she couldn’t do it, and it probably wasn’t necessary. He was right, though. They still had to lay low for a while, still had to get the hang of things before they could start snooping around.

‘Now is probably the time we should start binge watching a new tv show.’

His eyes lit up. ‘But which one?’

‘Well’, she tilted her head. ‘I’ve seen all of SG1 in college. And I’ve been watching Atlantis at work, I’m at season 4.’

Winn grabbed her face and kissed her forehead. ‘Stargate.’, he said in a very serious manner. ‘This is why I love you.’

He let go of her quickly, rushing to set up the tv, because of course he had all the seasons on his cloud.

Kara was left staring at him, because her heart flipped.

When he said it, her heart skipped a beat inside her chest, and it shouldn’t have happened.

Kara compulsively ignored it and settled on the couch, willing herself to relax when Winn laid down next to her, his head resting on her thigh.

///

Rose Romero did not look like an evil alien mastermind.

She was a middle aged woman, with light lavender hair, cut short and elegantly messy, wearing a long dress with tribal patterns and rocking a bright purple lipstick. She seemed very sweet, as she introduced herself and talked a little about the book club, very polite as she asked the participants to introduce themselves and to name their top three favorite books.

It was hard for Kara to connect the image of this woman with those of the missing couples.

And then Rose said, in a very excited voice, that they were reading _War of the Worlds_. Well then. Judging by the look she shared with Winn, he was probably thinking the same: there was definitely something off about sweet lady Rose.

///

The next two days were spent in a similar manner.

They got up early in the morning, had breakfast in their suite, swam in the pool for a couple of hours. Then they’d go back to the suite, watch a few episodes of Stargate Atlantis before lunch. They’d head to the beach, after, splashing around in the water for a while. They read _War of the Worlds_ on the beach, Kara working on her tan, Winn drowning in sunscreen. After dinner, they’d cuddle and watch more Stargate, read a little in bed, text Alex something about the food, and fall asleep way too early.

///

On the evening of their fifth day, they attended the dance class taught by John Romero.

He didn’t seem evil, either. He seemed like a typical dad, in high waisted jeans and a plaid shirt, with a graying moustache and telling too many bad jokes. He was also a good dancer, teaching them samba.

Winn was ridiculously bad at it, but what he lacked in technique and… coordination, he made up in enthusiasm and laughter. Kara was enjoying herself way too much, probably, even if her toes got constantly stepped on.

As the lesson ended, John made his way to their side. He cheerily shook Winn’s hand and kissed Kara’s, congratulating them on a job well done.

‘What are you talking about?’, Winn frowned. ‘I was terrible.’

‘You were.’, Kara nodded sympathetically, wrapping their fingers together.

‘At dancing, yes’, John laughed, ‘but you two not only enjoyed yourself, but you also brought a new level of entertainment for us old fools.’

He was right. Kara and Winn were the youngest couple staying at the resort, and during this dance class, she saw that the other couples in attendance spent a lot of their time smiling fondly in their direction.

‘Well I’m glad to be of service.’, Winn blushed, his fingers tightening around Kara’s.

‘You keep at it, boy.’, John was still smiling, but there was strength in his voice. ‘Us old birds, we like seeing youngsters in love, fooling around and what do you call them, PDAs? They rejuvenate our hearts, and keep us from being our usual old grumps. So keep at it, kids. For everyone’s sake.’

He let them leave soon after, but there was something dark settling in Kara’s stomach.

Sure enough, as they got back to their suite, Winn leveled her with a look in the bedroom.

‘Did that sound like a threat to you?’, he whispered.

‘Kind of.’, Kara nodded.

‘Damn. We’re not doing enough.’

She gulped. ‘We’re not having sex on the couch.’

Winn’s first reaction was to stare at her with wide eyes, before snorting and shaking his head.

‘Come on.’, he said gently. ‘Let’s go watch an episode or two before we start making out and make them think we’re moving to the bedroom to have sex.’

Kara raised an eyebrow at him.

‘Permission to…’, he tilted his head and put his fingers on her stomach, tickling her gently, ‘get a little handsy?’

Through her giggles, Kara nodded.

///

They did watch two Stargate episodes, cuddling on the couch. As the third episode started, Kara still wasn’t able to relax. It didn’t matter, she said it herself the first time J’onn told them the mission, a few fake kisses won’t matter for the sake of their friendship.

But she couldn’t calm herself down, she couldn’t relax her body and she couldn’t, for the life of her, think of anything else except for the fact that Winn was going to kiss her. They were going to make out and it needed to look realistic, the people watching needed to believe that they were really a couple in love, a couple used to sleeping together, a couple who wanted it and-

Winn’s hand moved, from where it was around her shoulders. His fingers started running up and down her arm, making her shiver. Her back was pressed to his chest, by this point, so she had to move quite a lot to be able to see him, but she did it, slowly.

His hand ended up on her neck, and as they locked eyes, he gently pushed his fingers under the string of her tank top. Both of them were smiling, all for the cameras.

Winn kissed her cheek first, then under her ear. ‘Relax.’, he whispered there, and the only reason she heard it was because of her super hearing.

She was the one to kiss him, properly on the lips, only because she couldn’t handle the wait anymore. Kara’s anxiety was through the roof, but when Winn started kissing her back, she was surprised by the fact that she didn’t feel awkward. Not one bit.

So she let Winn deepen the kiss, even if he did it gently. True to his word, he did get a little handsy, his fingers running over her ribs and her chest. It wasn’t unpleasant.

Kara had always thought Winn was an attractive man. Maybe he wasn’t the one for her, but kissing him right now, she couldn’t deny the waves of pleasure that were slowly but surely making their way through her entire body.

At one point, Winn started pushing and pulling at her body, and Kara was quick to understand what he wanted. She climbed on his lap, mindful to sit on his thighs, not on something else, and they resumed kissing, a bit harder than before.

Winn’s hands sneaked under her tank top, scratching gently on her back, making Kara bit on his lower lip. He grabbed her ass, and she pulled at his hair.

That stopped the kiss, making them stare at each other for a while. They were both panting, their cheeks were flushed and their lips were shiny.

Kara got off of Winn, standing and extending a hand towards him.

‘Bedroom?’, she asked as sweetly as she could.

He was quick to nod, grabbing her hand and letting himself be dragged away. Still, he stopped her just before they reached the door. Winn somewhat gently pushed Kara to the wall, pushing his body to hers and kissing her, again.

It rendered her absolutely breathless. There was desire, in Kara, a warmth spreading from her stomach. It was all too much.

She stopped the kiss, gently pushing on Winn’s chest.

Once again, they just looked at each other for a while. Kara was a little shocked, by what just transpired, and it was clear that Winn shared the sentiment. He was the first one to move, grabbing her hand and taking her to the bedroom.

As the door was shut behind them, Kara put some distance between them.

Now, as they looked at each other, there wasn’t desire in their eyes anymore, neither was shock. Only hesitance.

‘Do you think that worked?’, he whispered.

‘I’m pretty sure it did.’, Kara breathed out.

Winn nodded, heading into the bathroom. He left the door open, so Kara saw him taking a condom from the toiletries basket and going through the motions of opening it and throwing it away. It was a smart move, even if Kara didn’t think the Romeros were going to be that thorough.

‘Let’s go to sleep, yeah?’, he easily asked.

It was the last word either of them said that night, even if neither she nor Winn managed to fall asleep for a few more hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: In case you're like me and didn't study international theater plays in school, Verona is a city in Italy where the story of Romeo and Juliet took place.  
> PS2: As always, I am begging you, leave me feedback!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Winn settle more into being at _Almost Verona_. They swim, they eat, they kiss, watch Stargate, read the books Rose choses for the book club. Their schedule is interrupted by a party and an opportunity to gather intel.

 

 

When Kara woke up the next morning, Winn was still next to her, even if he was already awake.

‘No breakfast?’, she mumbled.

‘In a minute.’, Winn snorted, turning around to look at her. ‘I wanted to check if we were okay.’, he whispered.

Kara blushed instantly, but she pushed through it. ‘We are.’, she said strongly. ‘I mean, we are, aren’t we?’

‘Yes.’, he was quick to cut off her hesitation. ‘We are. Okay, good. I mean, we are adults.’

‘Right.’, Kara nodded. ‘And we knew going into this op, we knew what it meant.’

‘Sure.’, Winn took a deep breath. ‘On that note, I booked us a couple’s massage, instead of our usual swimming today.’

She was surprised by this, having never discussed it before hand.

‘Lord knows we both need to relax.’, he said in a fake desperate tone, making her chuckle. Still, he was right.

///

The couple's massage implied them going to the spa, in a small room that smelled of oils and lavender, with calming music playing softly in the background. There were two tables, side by side, and Kara was pretty cynical in getting off the top of her swimsuit before getting under the towel. Thankfully, Winn was conveniently busy with taking off his flip flops to look at her right then.

He had been right, the massage relaxed her body to a point it hadn’t been in what felt like forever. And, as she was close to falling asleep while a stranger massaged her back, Kara realized that her mind was relaxed, as well.

So what if she made out with her best friend? What if she enjoyed it, in that moment? What if she had to do it again?

It didn’t matter. They had work to do, kidnappers to catch.

As she fell asleep, the last thought that went through Kara’s head was something along the lines of _I hope I don’t lose Winn_.

///

The next three days were pretty much the same, with slight differences. They spent the days alternating between swimming, eating, reading and watching Stargate.

They kissed, every now and then. Always close to the cameras, not letting it get too far, but they did do it.

And they saw a lot more of Rose and John. They kept showing up, at the pool, on the beach, in the restaurant. They always came and spoke with Kara and Winn, albeit briefly, and they always praised the cuteness of them, how young and in love they were.

How much they enjoyed watching Kara and Winn fool around. If she didn’t know what she knew about Rose and John, Kara would have thought it was creepy. She just thought it was dangerous.

So Kara started paying attention. She learned the layout of the resort, where the kitchens and laundry rooms were, storage closets and bathrooms, rooms that shouldn’t have cameras. She kept track of the employees, of when the shift changes happened and she kept a very close eye on the security guards. She learned their patrol routes, their routines and what sort of weapons they carried.

She also learned Rose and John’s schedule, somewhat. It would be good for strategizing, later on.

///

Winn had a lot of opinions about _War of the Worlds_ , which he didn’t hesitate to talk about at the next book club. Kara would have been surprised, if she hadn’t known it was the fifth time Winn was reading the book.

People intervened, at first, but eventually, they stayed out of it, leaving Winn and Rose have at it. They were arguing, mostly, Winn clearly getting on the woman’s nerves. Not because he had different opinions than hers, but because he was actually brining clear, strong arguments to defend them.

‘No, look, I don’t care. I don’t care that their planet was destroyed, that they were dying out as a race or whatever else. There shouldn’t have come to a new planet, not carrying how many people they kill on it. Whatever the reason, there is never a good reason for mass murder, for genocide.’

Kara couldn’t help but feel proud. Winn was crazy, sure, stepping on the toes of an evil alien they were trying to catch, but he did it in a very well thought manner. So as Rose was wrapping up the session, Kara gave him a kiss.

He seemed confused by it, but didn’t ask.

‘My darlings, if you are scheduled to join tomorrow’s meeting’, Rose said, grabbing everyone’s attention, ‘I am pleased to announced that it is canceled and that you are all invited to a party!’

One of the couples staying at the resort was celebrating the 40 year anniversary of their wedding, and after dinner, there was to be a party, thrown in one of the halls of the resort. Everyone was invited and kind of forced to attend.

‘Good thing I brought a suit.’, Winn grinned at her.

She sighed, dreading the party already.

///

‘Do you think we should snoop around tomorrow?’, she asked later that night. ‘When everyone’s busy with the party?’

Winn considered it. ‘I think that because of the party, they’re going to have their security kicked up a notch around the rest of the resort.’

Kara sighed. ‘You’re probably right.’

‘I’ve been thinking, though.’, Winn went on. ‘I wanna try to hack into their network.’

‘What if they catch you?’

Winn raised an unimpressed eyebrow at that. ‘I am capable of making an untraceable hack. Plus, if the security is going to be busy with the buildings…’

‘Then maybe they won’t have someone looking out for the network.’, Kara finished.

‘Exactly. So we’ll leave the party a little early and I’ll come back here and do my magic.’

‘Okay.’, Kara sighed. ‘It’s a plan.’

‘Now go to sleep, babe.’, Winn turned off the lights, ‘It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.’

By the time Kara realized it was the first time he used that nickname, Winn was already asleep.

///

Winn suggested they’d skip the pool the next morning, cheekily reminding her that they had a party to attend, they should keep their strengths up for that. Kara relented, putting on her bathing suit and following Winn to the beach.

They didn’t get in the water, making themselves comfortable on side by side lounge chairs. As Winn lathered himself in sunscreen, Kara checked her emails.

‘Oh God.’, she said in dread, checking the latest email from _Almost Verona_. ‘We got our book assignments for next week.’

Winn stopped, face half covered in white cream.

‘It can’t possibly be worse than _War of the Worlds._ ’, he said slowly, before snorting. ‘Unless it’s something like _Harry Potter_ or _Hunger Games_.’

‘Worse.’, Kara threw him a look. ‘ _Romeo and Juliet_.’

Winn blinked a couple of times, and then he started laughing. ‘Do you know what that means?’

Very awkward conversation come the next book club meeting, Kara instantly thought. She didn’t say it out loud, opting for shaking her head.

‘It’s like, super short.’, Winn snorted. ‘We’ll finish it up quickly, and then we can focus on Stargate. Season 5 is my favorite!’

Kara couldn’t help but smile. She appreciated that Winn tried to take her mind off the mild anxiety inducing thoughts, and he still had unblended sunscreen on his face. He looked ridiculously adorable.

‘Babe’, she said gently, ‘come here.’

He did so, frowning slightly, even after Kara started gently rubbing her fingers over his face.

‘Babe?’, he whispered very lowly, ‘That’s new.’

‘It is.’, she couldn’t help but tease. ‘I was very surprised when you used it last night.’

He flushed, instantly. ‘Uhm.’

‘It’s okay.’, Kara snorted, giving him a quick kiss on the nose. ‘So, we’re reading?’

Winn nodded. ‘We’re reading.’

With that, they made themselves comfortable on the lounge chairs, like a pair of lizards in the sun, and three hours later, they were both done with _Romeo and Juliet_.

///

After a couple of Stargate episodes, they went to lunch, where, of course, Rose and John said hello. They were particularly gross that day, evidently excited about the upcoming party, overly interested in the dress Kara was going to wear and just, overall, being nasty and making her feel sick to her stomach.

As soon as the older couple left, Winn wrapped his arm around Kara’s shoulders, bringing her as close to him as he could, pushing his face in her hair. It was a patented move by now, that he used whenever he wanted to say something only for Kara’s superhearing ears.

‘It’ll be okay. We’ll have some drinks, flaunt your pretty dress for a while, then act like we can’t keep our hands off each other and get the hell out of dodge and get to work on nailing these bastards.’

‘You make it sound so easy.’, Kara couldn’t help but whine.

‘Between the two of us’, Winn teased, ‘everything is easy.’

She laughed at that, because it was very far from the truth. Feeling that his job was done, Winn kissed her forehead before pulling away.

‘Do you feel like a nap? Cause I feel like a nap.’, he yawned, and it wasn’t even fake.

Thinking about the long night ahead of them, Kara did feel like taking a nap.

///

They got room service for dinner, eating on the couch, watching Stargate. Winn showered first, and Kara took her time in the bathroom afterwards.

She only had one dress that was formal enough to be worn on this occasion. It was simple, plain white, but it was fit on her body, flowy on her thighs and stopping at her knees. The outfit was fitting for a party in a beachy location, but it did need some color. So Kara put on a pair of red kitten heels and a lipstick to match. It was unusual for her, such a bright color, but paired with the white dress and the complicated braids she put her hair up in, Kara thought she looked nice.

Winn clearly thought so too, considering he was tying his bowtie when she made her way into the bedroom, and he stopped completely, hands freezing in mid air.

Kara took a second to look him over, because Winn did look good in the suit. It was the same outfit he wore to Lena’s fundraiser, a dark gray suit, black shirt with white polka dots and the grey tie he wore then was now swapped for a bright red bowtie.

‘We match.’, Winn breathed out.

They did, Kara realised. She frowned. ‘How did you know I was going to-’

‘I didn’t.’, he shook his head. ‘It’s a coincidence.’

Winn very quickly ran his eyes from the top to the bottom of her, and Kara willed herself not to blush as he did it, occupying herself with choosing what jewelry to wear.

‘You look lovely.’, was what he said, but his tone implied that he also hated her.

Kara threw him a confused look.

‘You’re wearing lipstick.’, Winn all but whined.

‘I do that, often enough.’, she said slowly.

‘Not bright red lipstick. I can’t kiss you now, it’s gonna ruin it.’

It took a few beats, but Kara did snort, turning back to her jewelry. ‘It’s fine, Winn. It’s smudge proof.’

He grumbled something, that she didn’t understand, but Winn quieted down as he made his way to her side, easily slipping behind her and helping her put on her necklace. She then tied off his bow, and they just grinned at each other for a while, after.

‘We’re looking good, babe.’, Winn said, quickly giving her a kiss on the corner of her mouth before making his way out of the room.

When Kara followed him and made it to the living room, she remembered. There were no cameras in the bedroom, they didn’t need to pretend, there.

And yet, they just did.

‘Come on.’, Winn startled her out of that thought. ‘We’re already late.’

Kara compulsively ignored what happened. She lost count of how many times she did that on this trip. And they were only on day 9.

They had 12 more to go.

///

When they got to the party… it wasn’t much of a party.

The hall was decorated accordingly, with fairy lights and a couple of bar high tables pushed to the side, thus allowing a large enough dancing space to be formed. There was an open bar and a buffet table piled high with canapes, but there was no music playing.

Of course, they were having trouble with setting up the system. Because this was a private party, apart from the bartender and a few waiters on table cleaning duty, there were no other personnel on sight.

Winn, of course, headed straight for the DJ table. While he fixed up the music, Kara got them some snacks, claiming a table in the far corner of the hall, from where she had a good vantage point.

The first thing she noticed, more like what hit her, was the fact that they really were the youngest couple around. It wasn’t usually so noticeable, but now when the guests were all occupying the same place, it was painfully obvious.

The next thing that caught Kara’s eye was the couple celebrating their anniversary. Tulip and Marty have been married for 40 years and they couldn’t be cuter. Their love was still going strong, clearly. Kara had noticed them before, at the dance class, because they seemed to be enjoying themselves just as much as Kara and Winn did, fooling around when they couldn’t dance properly, giggling and laughing and generally, being happy together.

Tulip and Marty were acting just the same now. Kara had to smile, it was such a beautiful sight to see. Her smile fell quickly, when she saw that Rose and John came by the other couple’s side.

It frustrated Kara to no end, the fact that the Romeros were so lovely and nice, yet still capable of doing such horrible things to innocent people.

Her right fist tightened under the table. They had to find something. Tonight, when Winn hacked into the system, _they had to find something_. There was no way they were putting up this charade for nothing.

She startled when the music turned on, too loudly. It took a few seconds for her to recognize the song, but it was _I got you babe_. Right, old people party. Looking at Winn, he was already watching her, grinning wildly. Kara chuckled, as he made his way to her side, stopping briefly at the bar to pick up two glasses of wine.

The first hour went smoothly, with the two of them keeping to their table, snacking on good food and drinking sweet wine. The music, while not Kara’s usual cup of tea, featured only oldies but goldies, they weren’t that bad.

Tulip and Marty came to say hello, and after Kara and Winn politely congratulated them, the older couple were quick to berate them for not dancing.

Winn didn’t miss a beat. ‘You’re perfectly right, we do apologize. So, Tulip, how ‘bout a dance?’

The older woman laughed loudly, but she did grab the hand Winn extended to her, letting him lead her to the dance floor. That left Kara with Marty, who was quick to invite her to dance.

He was a far better dancer than Winn was in class, as it turned out, but every time Kara’s eyes skipped to him and Tulip, the older woman was laughing.

‘He’s a keeper, that one.’, Marty told Kara with a knowing look.

‘Yes, he is.’, there was no hesitation on her part. Because it was true, Winn was a truly amazing guy, and any girl should be so lucky to have him. She thought so even before all this, but now, after seeing how he’d be like in a relationship, it only strengthened Kara’s conviction.

‘And he loves you a terrible amount.’, Marty said next, making Kara falter, in surprise.

‘Oh, don’t give me that look, young lady.’, he chuckled. ‘If there’s one thing I know after 40 years of being married, it’s the way love looks. And it looks exactly how that boy looks at you first thing in the morning, and last thing at night, and every second in between.’

Kara didn’t get a chance to answer, she didn’t even get a chance to put her thoughts in order. Tulip and Winn came by their side, and quickly after, Kara found herself wrapped in Winn’s arms.

She was straight as a plank.

‘Come on, babe.’, he coaxed, ‘I may not be good at samba, but I can handle a simple slow dance.’

Kara smiled at him, trying her best to calm down. She pushed her cheek to Winn’s shoulder and took several deep breaths, letting him lead her to the gentle beat of the ballad playing.

Did he really look at her like that, like Marty said? It was all an act, this was all supposed to be an act. A job, an op.

And yet, Kara found herself faltering. Like before, in the bedroom, when they flirted and kissed and forgot there were no cameras around. Like now, when Winn’s hands on her waist made her skin tingle, when she could feel his warmth spreading through her body, all the way to her toes.

It was ridiculous to even think about it. Winn wasn’t in love with her anymore, and she had never loved him, not like that.

So why did she want to kiss him, now? Why did she feel the urge deep inside her chest, as strong as it should never be?

Winn’s hand moved, slowly, from her waist to the base of her neck, fingers gently playing at her hair.

‘What’s up?’, he asked softly. ‘You’re distracted.’

She shook her head, gathering her strengths. There wasn’t any time for this. ‘It’s nothing, I promise.’

‘Lie.’, Winn said easily, but didn’t push any further.

‘How much more do we have to dance?’

He faked being affronted.

‘I just mean’, Kara chuckled, ‘that I want to get back to the suite’, she said pointedly.

Winn did that thing again, where he kissed her on the cheek and under her ear, to be able to whisper. ‘A while longer. Everyone’s staring, especially the Romeros.’

After Kara shivered, she looked around the hall. Winn was right, of course. While everyone else was trying to be stealthy, the Romeros were not. Rose and John were staring at them, not caring who saw. Kara shivered again, because of the look in their eyes, it was hungry.

Winn kissed her, then. Softly, his fingers tightening their hold on her neck.

Kara felt like crying, especially when he pulled away. But Winn was smiling wildly, at her, blinking slowly.

‘Is there red lipstick on my face?’

Oh, he was ridiculous. Laughing, Kara wrapped her arms around his neck, dancing forgotten, squeezing tightly. Winn hummed in delight, easily grabbing a hold of her waist, lifting her off the ground a spinning her around a few times.

After he put her down, he kissed her again, a little less softer than before, a little while longer, his hands trickling lower than her waist.

Winn gasped, as he stopped the kiss, but he didn’t move too far, their lips still touching as he spoke.

‘How do we stealthily get out of here?’

Kara snorted. ‘Not stealthily, for sure.’

She grabbed his hand, playing the part and giggling all the while they crossed the hall and headed for the doors. Still, Winn stopped at the bar, grabbing a glass of champagne and drinking it all in one go.

As they went out, Kara’s eyes locked with Rose. The older woman winked at her, teasingly, but her eyes still held that hunger in them, that vile and terrifying spark.

They didn’t run to their suite, but they did power walk. Once they made it into the living room, Winn wasted no time in pinning her against the wall.

He did it so they were right in front of a camera, Kara absently thought, but she quickly became distracted by the way Winn’s tongue was dancing inside of her mouth, and by the way his hands were following a path under her dress, up onto her thighs.

It didn’t last very long, because Kara knew what was at stake. There was work do to tonight, and if they didn’t stop soon enough, she knew, she just _knew_ they’d make a mistake, based on lies and wine.

So she strongly pushed at Winn’s chest, ignored her heavy breathing and demanded to move it to the bedroom.

Once there, she was quick to put some distance between them.

‘That lipstick must be magic.’, Winn said, sounding in awe.

Kara stared at him, at the messy hair which was her doing, and at his swollen lips, also her doing.

‘No, really.’, Winn went on. ‘It’s still like… perfectly applied.’

‘Winn.’, Kara said slowly. ‘We’ve got work to do.’

That snapped him out of it, and saying the words out loud, it helped Kara remember them as well. Taking a deep breath, she pushed all thoughts of Winn’s lips and hands out of her head.

They did have work to do.

///

Winn took virtually no time at all to hack into _Almost Verona_ ’s system. That was six hours ago.

Now, they were both sitting up in bed, with cups of coffee in their hands (the delivery boy threw Kara a filthy look when she went to pick it up and urged her to have fun), both of them with their eyes stuck to Winn’s laptop.

‘That’s it.’, he said. ‘That’s the last of it.’

Kara cursed, making Winn frown at her. He didn’t know Kryptonian curse words.

‘We looked through their entire digital system’, there was desperation seeping through Kara’s tone, ‘all their records from the past decade, all their documents and nothing? We found nothing?’

‘Nothing.’, Winn sighed.

Kara cursed again, but grabbed her phone. She texted Alex: _there was a party, we drank too much_.

As per their code, Alex called back quickly enough, on a secure line that wasn’t tracked.

‘You guys okay?’, was the first thing Alex asked.

‘Of course.’, Kara snapped. ‘We’re tanned and eating chocolate covered strawberries at every snack, don’t you follow me on Instagram?’

There was a lengthy pause, she could just picture her sister frowning. Winn put a hand on her shoulder.

‘Winn hacked the network. We looked everywhere, and there’s nothing.’

Alex sighed. ‘So you’re stuck there for a while longer.’

‘12 more days.’, Winn nodded.

‘Unless we find something before that.’, Kara countered. ‘I don’t know how, just yet, but we need to figure out a way to get into their office.’

‘If we can help in any way, let us know.’, Alex said strongly. ‘And keep me updated.’

Kara couldn’t help but roll her eyes. ‘Obviously.’

Alex coughed. ‘And how are you two doing?’

‘Fine.’, Kara said quickly, at the same time Winn said ‘Peachy’.

They both sounded very high pitched and terribly fake.

‘We’re tired, to be honest.’, Winn said in a more normal tone. ‘The beach and pool and everything, it’s really nice, but it doesn’t take from the fact that we’re just sitting here, waiting for two evil aliens to kidnap us. Plus, it’s like 5AM and we haven’t slept yet.’

‘We’re fine, Alex.’, Kara said gently. ‘Frustrated, but fine.’

‘Then get some rest.’, her sister sighed, ending the call soon after.

Once they were under the covers and the lights were off, Kara couldn’t help herself, she reached for Winn’s hand, who was quick to accommodate her.

‘We have to find something.’, Kara whispered. ‘We have to get them.’

‘I know.’, Winn said. ‘I don’t know how, but we’re gonna break into the office. There has to be something there, some physical evidence.’

He yawned. ‘Tomorrow. We’ll think about that tomorrow.’

‘It is tomorrow’, Kara pointed out.

Winn grumbled, keeping their hands still clasped even as he pushed their bodies together, until he was half sprawled over her.

There weren’t cameras in the bedroom, Kara remembered. She should have said it out loud.

She didn’t, falling asleep with Winn’s body heat sipping into her, the first rays of morning sun covering the both of them.

///

They woke up barely in time for lunch, and everyone in the restaurant was giving them teasing, knowing looks. Kara felt like her whole face was on fire, but Winn took it in stride, with a cheeky grin and a hand strategically placed on her waist.

Still tired, they opted against doing anything that day, so they went back to the suite and put on Stargate. They didn’t talk much, and Kara was surprised to realize that she was able to quiet down all her thoughts about Winn, immersing herself into the stories on tv.

It was all very chill and very normal, up until episode 6. 

It was a Rodney centered episode, in which he caught a foreign virus, that made him forget things, gradually, a disease the local people called _second childhood_. The actor was absolutely brilliant at it, and Rodney was one of her favorite characters, an egotistical genius with a slight asshole undertone. Seeing him in such a bad state, it hurt Kara quite a bit.

She started crying, at some point, and she didn't stop for awhile. On screen, they were in a temple where Rodney’s disease disappeared, briefly, and the team was trying to find a way to cure him, instead of saying goodbye. Her tears stopped at that, and she was able to watch the rest of the episode.

But, at the very end, they showed a clip of Rodney at the beginning of his illness. He was talking to his doctor, and it was clear that after he was cured, he had no memory of ever saying that.

‘Jennifer, there’s something I wanted to… While I remember, while I still can, there’s something I wanted to say before…’

Kara held her breath.

‘I… uhm… I love you. I’ve loved you for some time now.’

The episode ended with Jennifer’s smiling face, and Kara turned, in shock, to Winn.

Who was smirking. ‘Come on, Kara, you’ve been waiting for that to happen for a long while.’

It was true, but that didn’t make her any less shocked that Rodney actually did it.

‘He was always going to do it.’, Winn seemed to read her mind. ‘He may have his moments of cowardness, and he may have been afraid of her answer, but Rodney was always going to tell her.’

‘Was he?’, Kara breathed out.

‘Yeah, for sure. And it was always going to be like this, too. Something terribly bad happening, forcing him to say it in the fear that he wasn’t going to get another chance to.’

Kara said nothing, vividly remembering the day Toyman escaped from jail. Winn went on.

‘It’s not a bad thing, is it? I mean yeah, sure, it sucks that he doesn’t remember saying it, but the fact that he got the courage to say it, it says a lot about Rodney, really, and about the type of love he has for Jennifer. It was more important to him that she knew, not her answer. There was no way she was going to give him an answer then, and he knew it. But Rodney still said it.’

‘He wanted her to know she was loved.’, Kara said.

Winn nodded. ‘He wanted her to know he’ll die loving her.’

She had to look away from him, then. Was that what he was thinking when he kissed her on her couch, with Toyman out to get him?

Winn wrapped his arms around her, bringing her as close as possible. Kara couldn’t look up at him, so she buried her face in the crook of his neck instead.

‘You’re ridiculous sometimes, babe.’, there was a smile in his voice. ‘Normal people don’t get this attached to fictional characters.’

She had to look at him them, incredulity clear. ‘You cried for a full hour when Tennant regenerated.’

‘Hey, I never said I was normal!’, Winn snorted. ‘There’s a reason why you and I gravitated towards each other.’

‘There’s a reason why you and I work so well together.’, Kara countered.

They were in the living room, with the cameras watching them. They were supposed to fake it.

She forgot about that. The words Kara said, they weren’t a lie. Winn knew it, because his breathing faltered, and his eyes widened.

‘Yeah?’, he whispered.

‘Maybe Alex was right.’, Kara said, surprising him again. ‘What she said before we left on this vacation, do you remember?’

‘Yes.’, Winn’s nod was quick. ‘But I don’t… is that what’s happening?’

Kara swallowed, hard. ‘Are you telling me that you don’t feel it?’

Winn’s mouth snapped shut, but he didn’t look away from her.

‘Tell me you don’t feel it.’, Kara was very unsure that this was all happening just in her head, ‘and I’ll never mention it again.’

‘Of course I feel it.’, he whispered, blinking slowly at her. ‘I always feel it.’

His voice lowered, so much that she only heard him before of her superhearing.

‘But you don’t. You never feel it, so now, it’s... ’, he didn’t go on.

‘Suspicious timing.’, she whispered after a while.

He didn’t disagree. Instead, Winn kissed her forehead and wordlessly started up the next Stargate episode.

///

Having slept so late that morning, midnight found Kara and Winn wide awake. So in hopes of exhausting themselves enough to sleep, they headed to the pool.

It was just the two of them, and a security guard, of course. They swam for an hour and a half, unhurried and in silence, side by side. And then Winn wordlessly attached himself to her back, wrapping his arms and even his legs around her body.

‘If you start saying _I’m an octopus_ again.’, Kara threatened, slowly making her way to the edge of the pool.

Grabbing onto the rail that surrounded the pool, she managed to keep them both afloat. Winn got comfortable, pressing his cheek to her back, crossing his ankles in front of her stomach, his arms around her neck.

‘Is there a reason why you’re so clingy?’, she couldn’t help but be sarcastic.

‘Yup.’, Winn answered easily, not continuing it with anything.

‘Well?’, Kara was mildly annoyed.

‘You’re thinking too much about… not our mission’, he whispered. ‘You should really get back to thinking about that.’

‘And how is this supposed to help?’, she couldn’t help but retort.

Kara didn’t need to see Winn to know that he was grinning, somewhat evilly.

‘Oh, I know it’s not helping. But now we have a reason to rush back to the suite, cause I have an idea.’

Needless to say, Kara quickly threw Winn to the bottom of the pool, and she didn’t bother swimming to the pool’s stairs, lifting herself up at the edge of it right there.

///

‘I think I have an idea to get you into the office.’, Winn said later, in the bedroom. ‘I mean, it’s pretty logical. I hacked into their network, I can do it again. I can monitor the camera feeds, tell you when the coast is clear.’

‘But they’ll still see me on the recordings.’, Kara frowned.

‘I could loop a few seconds of, you know, an empty hallway or room. And unloop it when you get out.’

‘Will it work?’

‘I think it will.’, Winn nodded. ‘Do you happen to know when the shifts change during the night?’

Of course Kara knew. There was a change at 11PM and one at 4AM.

‘What are the odds, of anybody else except for security to be awake at 4AM?’, Winn asked.

‘Slim.’, Kara nodded. ‘Elderly people need their rest.’

He snorted, before growing serious. ‘That just leaves one problem. The key.’

The Romeros’ office was the only locked door in the entire resort. With such a high number of security personnel, they didn’t even bother setting up locks. But the office was locked and over the past week, Kara learned that Rose and John were the only ones who had keys to it, and they always held them on their person.

‘I could break the lock.’, Kara tried.

Winn quickly shook his head. ‘You could, but they’d know someone broke in.’

‘What if…’, she scrambled through her mind, ‘What if we steal it from him? At dance class, tomorrow.’

He hesitated.

‘I could easily steal it.’, Kara insisted.

‘No, yeah, I know that. But what if he notices it’s missing?’

‘You could keep an eye out for him? Hack the footage straight after class?’

‘Or I could drug his water at class.’

Kara stared at him, because he said it so easily. Too easily.

‘What?’, he bristled a little. ‘Sedatives are part of the standard kit for every field op.’

‘Winn.’, she said slowly, using her night vision to look at him clearly, even if the lights were completely off in the room. ‘How many guns did you bring?’

‘Two.’, he shrugged. ‘One’s in the nightstand, the other’s in my suitcase.’

Kara sighed, closing her eyes. ‘I hate the thought of you being forced to use a gun.’

He was silent for a long time, but then Winn got closer to her, on the bed. He didn’t touch her, but he was close, very close.

‘I’ve had training, you know. Alex took it upon herself to teach me how to shoot a gun and yeah, maybe I’m not the best-’

‘That’s not what I meant, and you know it.’, Kara was quick to shut him off.

He sighed, deeply. ‘It’s been years, Kara. You really need to let go of the guilt of bringing me into this world.’

‘I thought I had.’, she admitted. ‘I also never thought you’d be the type of man to carry two guns on him.’

‘I honestly don’t want to use them.’, Winn snorted. ‘I mean, I have my very own superhero, why would I need a gun?’

He paired his words with an arm slung over Kara’s waist, gently pulling her closer to him, until they were properly cuddling. In the room without cameras. Again.

She sighed. ‘So we’re sneaking in the office tomorrow night?’

Winn gave a sleepy mumble as a response, but it sounded affirmative. He was asleep terribly quick.

///

Kara didn’t fall asleep for a long time.

She couldn’t stop thinking… about Rodney, really. Well, she started by thinking about Rodney, and the emotional Stargate episode they saw today, but then, of course, her thoughts wandered to Winn.

The way he spoke about Rodney, the confidence and understanding, it left no doubt in Kara’s mind. That was the way Winn felt all that time ago, when his father was hunting him and he was kissing Kara on her couch.

Courageous enough to say it, even if he was afraid of her reaction. Her answer didn’t really matter to him, it was more important to him that she knew.

That’s what Winn had said and Kara couldn’t understand it.

Not once in her life, had she ever laid her heart out for a boy and not expect an answer right away. She couldn’t even imagine it, having to live with the uncertainty, the doubt, immediately after laying her heart bare in front of another person.

And yet, Winn had been ready to do that. When he kissed Kara, he had been ready to face that uncertainty. He didn’t end up doing it, because Kara hurt him instead, her refusal immediate and without any turning back.

He was a strong man, for being able to do that.

Winn was stronger than her, because now, Kara felt that uncertainty. And it was kind of killing her.

She was too afraid to really ask herself the question, to really figure out if what she was feeling for Winn now was real, or just a side effect of their close proximity.

But no matter the reason, no matter the permanence of it, Kara did feel it.

She felt comfortable, when he guided her through a room with a hand on her waist, when their legs would tangle under the restaurant table, when they’d be in the water and he’d easily tuck the stray hairs out of her eyes.

She felt giddy when Winn grabbed her hand, she felt her heart jump when he hugged her, she felt flutters in her stomach when he kissed her.

She felt desire, strong and burning, every time their kisses had to be longer, when they had to fake foreplay for the cameras.

She felt _loved_ , every single time he looked at her, first thing in the morning over the rim of a coffee cup, last thing at night with rumpled sheets between them, and every second in between.

She couldn’t forget how he looked at her earlier that day. _Of course I feel it, I always feel it_.

Now, just as it did then, the look Winn gave her brought a lot of emotions out of her. Fear and uncertainty, yes, but also a flicker of hope.

Did she even want it? Kara couldn’t be sure, she couldn’t stop for long enough to actually think about the way she felt, if it was real or not.

Winn shifted in his sleep, his arm moving lower on her body, closer to dangerous territory, but he also pushed his head closer, until his forehead was pushing against her arm. She felt his breath on her skin, making goose bumps appear on it, and a warmth settling into her chest.

No matter the answer to Kara’s question, one thing will always remain real: the love she had for Winn. No matter how much more it blossomed or not, he will always be her best friend, no matter what.

That was important, that might just be the most important thing.

So Kara turned around, wrapped her arms around Winn properly, thankfully without waking him up. Sleep didn’t come quickly, but the thoughts troubling Kara’s mind did quiet down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sonny and Cher - I got you babe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80QHRTQ3Kmw)   
>  [That one Rodney scene that I mention, Stargate Atlantis, episode **The Shrine**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XY-970p_L8)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn continues to act like the best boyfriend, Kara keeps doubting her feelings, the Romeros continue to be as creepy as they are nice, and Kara and Winn continue their investigation, coming up with a new plan.

 

Kara got her period the next day.

She had no idea how Winn figured it out, but he did, because he didn’t argue when she said she wasn’t going to swim, and at lunch, he wordlessly gave her his brownie. And when they settled on the couch for Stargate, he urged her to lie down and got behind her, making sure his hands were on her stomach, pleasant warmth seeping through.

‘You’re the best boyfriend.’, she mumbled at one point.

Winn froze behind her, she felt it. He got over it quickly enough, chuckling and sweetly kissing her shoulder.

‘I sure am.’, his voice was soft. ‘Hey, if you wanna skip dancing tonight-’

‘No.’, she said strongly.

‘But, Kara, if you don’t feel-’

She growled under her breath, silencing him. Kara also took some time to maneuver herself around, facing him. It wasn’t an easy thing to do on a couch, her butt was in the air and she had to wrap a leg over Winn’s hip to keep herself from falling, but he helped her, his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her securely against him.

When they settled, Winn smiled at her, softly but wildly. ‘Hi.’, he whispered playfully.

‘We’re going to the dance class.’, Kara told him strongly. ‘I took some pills, I’m fine. It’ll be fun.’

‘Fun?’, Winn raised an eyebrow. ‘Me stepping on your toes for an hour and a half is fun?’

‘A lot of things that sound like a drag are fun when I do them with you.’

He grinned at that, throwing her a very particularly teasing look, as one of his hands traveled down to her ass.

She faked being annoyed, gently slapping his shoulder.

Winn snickered, but he also kissed her cheek. ‘Fine, we’ll go dancing.’

‘Yup.’, Kara nodded, ‘We’ll do everything we had planned for tonight.’

He nodded again, clearly understand she was hinting to the plan of stealing John’s key and sneaking into the office. He also kissed her, gently and unhurried. She felt herself growing tired, and the fact that she had her eyes closed didn’t help.

‘No more Stargate?’, he whispered.

Kara mumbled something, but she was already half asleep. Thankfully, Winn said nothing else, and she fell asleep quickly.

///

Winn was particularly bad that night at the dancing class.

They were learning how to waltz, and not only were the steps giving him problems, but the stiff posture he needed to adopt was proving difficult, as well.

Most of it was for show, and it worked. At the last dance of the evening, John stepped in, all but begging Winn to let him dance with Kara.

Of course, Winn was quick to accept.

During that dance, John was as he always was. A good dancer, filled with jokes, kind and polite. But he was also looking at Kara in a way that made her want to throw up, with a vile hunger that she couldn’t ignore.

Still, she played the part. She giggled when he hinted at something vaguely sexual, she was polite despite wanting to punch him in the balls, she even made sure to keep up with the waltz steps and not crush his toes.

She also stole his keys. It was easy, really, just a short spurt of super speed that he didn’t notice.

When they finished the dance, Winn came to their side, gratefully thanking John, giving him a bottle of water. John drank it all in one go, and Kara couldn’t help the spark of hope she felt in her chest, because she knew Winn drugged the water.

///

Sure enough, two hours later, John was fast asleep. Rose was still milling about in the resort, and they had to wait for her to go to sleep too, as well as the rest of the people on site.

So they watched three more episodes of Stargate, and ordered three bottles of wine. Kara drank most of them, faking being drunk before retiring to the bedroom.

Winn was quick to reach for his laptop, as Kara changed in the bathroom. A simple all-black outfit, that had him staring at her for a couple of seconds. He didn’t say anything, though, just gave her an ear piece and a very small camera to attach to her glasses.

It wasn’t hard to get inside the office. It took a stupid amount of time, because Kara had to wait around corners, for Winn to check that the hallway she wanted to step into was empty and for him to loop the camera feed. A few times, she had to wait for the security guards to pass.

But, eventually, Kara did get to the Romeros’ office. She had no issue opening the door with John’s key, and there was nobody inside. There weren’t surveillance cameras, either, which not only made Winn’s job easier, but it also made Kara think that they were hiding something inside.

An hour later, she had gone through every drawer, every shelf, every jewelry box and document file. She had looked under every carpet, every knick knack, she even looked under the furniture.

‘There’s nothing.’, she growled, following it with a pretty strong Kryptonian curse.

‘Photo album.’, Winn retorted, a lot calmer than she felt. ‘There’s a photo album on the lowest shelf.’

Kara sighed deeply, but she did reach down to get it.

It took three different pictures for her to find her words.

‘Are you seeing this?’

‘Yeah.’, Winn was clearly affected. ‘Those are the missing couples.’

Kara went through all of the pictures. There were 15 of them, 3 more couples than what the FBI knew of. The pictures were clearly taken at _Almost Verona_ , in the restaurant, and all the couples looked incredibly happy.

It made Kara’s stomach turn.

‘This won’t be enough evidence to get the troops to storm the castle.’, Winn said slowly.

‘I know’, Kara nodded, putting the photo album back in its place, ‘but there’s nothing else here. Nothing.’

‘Okay.’, Winn took a deep breath. ‘Let’s get you back, we’ll talk about it.’

‘What about the keys?’, she asked as she stepped out of the office.

‘Detour to dancing room.’, Winn quickly answered. ‘He’ll think he lost them at class.’

Once again, it took a ridiculous amount of time, but Kara did make it safely back to the suite. After she changed into her pajamas, Winn was waiting for her in the middle of the bed, laptop still open, screencaps from Kara’s glasses video feed, of the three unknown couples.

‘I can’t send them to Alex, we know all communications are tracked.’

‘It doesn’t matter now, anyway.’, Kara sighed. ‘They’re missing, already.’

‘Still, call her?’, Winn insisted.

She nodded, sending Alex a text, a simple _I am very drunk._ Alex called a minute later.

‘You’re incredibly lucky I am awake right now.’, is what she started with. ‘I’ll tell you when you get back. Did you find anything?’

Quickly, they brought Alex up to speed. Of course, she promptly cursed under her breath.

‘Well do you have any other ideas? Any other way or place you could find evidence?’

‘No.’, Winn was clearly as frustrated as Kara felt. ‘There’s nothing else, trust us on that.’

Alex sighed.

‘There’s bait.’, Kara voiced a thought that had plagued her from the very start.

Winn turned sharply, to look at her, but he didn’t seem angry, just vaguely surprised.

‘I’m all up for that’, he said slowly, ‘but how? As far as we know, the couples were never taken from the resort, they were taken after they got back home.’

‘Which is not an option’, Alex piped up, ‘considering you don’t live together.’

‘Right.’, Kara said slowly, quickly looking away from Winn. ‘We have to, somehow, convince them to kidnap us from here.’

‘But you don’t even know _why_ they’re kidnapping couples.’, Alex pointed out.

‘Not for sure, no.’, Winn said after a beat. ‘But we have a vague idea.’

She looked to him, sharply, as Alex made an inquisitive sound.

Winn sighed, gently grabbing Kara’s hand before he started talking.

‘We don’t know anything specific, but by the way they act, we know it has something to do with the fact that we’re young, in love, and having sex.’

Alex said nothing, and Kara could just picture her sister’s wide eyes.

‘He’s right.’, she finally said. ‘It’s… They’re sleazy, Alex. I don’t know how to explain it otherwise, but they are. They’re sleazy towards us, and gross and vile, without actually _doing_ anything, or even saying anything that’s too off.’

‘Okay.’, Alex said slowly. ‘So what’s the plan?’

Kara looked, helplessly, to Winn.

‘Kick the lovey-dovey stuff up a notch?’, he shrugged. ‘Maybe the sex stuff, after you’re done with your period?’

Alex made a sound that she badly disguised as a cough.

‘It won’t be enough.’, Kara ignored her sister.

‘Piss them off, then.’, Winn nodded. ‘I can _easily_ do that.’

‘It’s not like we have anything else to go on.’

‘Guys.’, Alex said slowly. ‘Did you actually have sex?’

Winn groaned, letting go of Kara’s hand in order to grab a pillow and shove his face in it.

‘No, we didn’t.’, she told Alex, her cheeks flaming. ‘Come on, Alex, get your head out of the gutter. Best friends don’t sleep with each other just because they’re spending a lot of time together in close quarters.’

Winn detached the pillow from his face, just so he could throw her a look, sarcastic and incredulous, _that’s rich coming from you_. Kara flinched, she couldn’t help it.

‘Fine, sorry.’, Alex sighed. ‘You’re not here and I’m worried.’

Kara relaxed, somewhat at that. ‘We’re fine.’, she said as strongly as she could.

‘We’ve got this, Alex.’, Winn added just as strongly.

‘You better.’, was all Alex said, before wishing them a good night and ending the call.

Once again, it was closer to morning that night, and they had yet to go to sleep.

‘Tomorrow’s gonna be a bitch.’, Winn groaned as he shut the lights.

Kara agreed, this was the second time they screwed up their sleeping schedule, and it didn’t even help with anything. She couldn’t help the frustrated huff of air she let out through her teeth.

‘Hey.’, Winn reached for her hand. ‘We’re gonna get them. Well, they’re gonna get us first, but we’re gonna get them.’

Suddenly, the long day caught up with Kara and she felt incredibly tired, so all she was able to do was whisper ‘okay’ and squeeze Winn’s fingers.

‘How’s your tummy?’, he sweetly asked.

‘Mildly sore.’, she admitted.

‘So I’ll just mildly cuddle you, then.’, came the prompt response.

True to his words, Winn did settle easily around her, close enough to put a hand over her stomach, but far enough that it was the only point of contact. It took exactly three seconds for Kara to push her body towards him, until she felt his chest against her back. Winn chuckled, but got comfortable, tangling their legs together and going as far as kissing her shoulder.

Kara fell asleep very quickly.

///

Once again, they woke up just in time for lunch, had to politely ignore all the teasing looks everyone was throwing them, and headed straight to the beach afterwards.

Winn got in the water, but Kara didn’t.

She felt like she needed a little time away from him, even if it was just for the hour he splashed in the water. And, honestly, she needed to talk to Alex.

Thankfully, her sister picked up the phone quickly.

‘Nothing’s wrong, I promise.’, Kara said for the third time, aware that their call was most likely traced. ‘I just wanted to talk.’

‘Okay.’, Alex calmed own. ‘So what are you doing?’

‘I’m on the beach right now, Winn’s splashing around in the water.’

Alex hummed, managing to fake interest.

‘We woke up super late today, because we stayed up last night.’, Kara went on. ‘I didn’t feel so well, so he stayed up with me.’

‘That’s nice of him.’

‘Yeah.’, Kara sighed. ‘He’s really nice.’

Suddenly, Alex didn’t have to fake interest. ‘Oh, really?’

‘Yeah, I mean, of course. We’ve been dating for quite a while, I knew Winn was nice.’, Kara babbled. ‘But, I mean, I was worried, you know, before coming here.’

‘I was worried about the same thing you were, Alex.’, she said kind of pointedly, hoping she’ll remember what she said in the conference room.

‘Yeah, I remember what I said to you, then.’, Alex said slowly.

‘But, the thing is’, Kara went on, ‘it’s not exactly what you think.’

‘It’s not?’

‘No. You said that… that something will happen, that will make us explode and screw up our relationship.’

‘And that’s not what happened?’, Alex was clearly confused.

‘No.’, Kara sighed, eyes unable to move away from where Winn was slowly but surely, swimming along the shore. ‘Something did happen, it’s like something is constantly happening here, and it did make us explode, but it didn’t screw up our relationship, quite the opposite.’

There was a long pause.

‘Kara, I don’t really understand what you’re saying.’

She looked away from Winn. ‘I’m so damn nervous, Alex, because it’s just been a week and a half, and I feel like I’m ready to take our relationship to the next level.’

‘You relationship to Winn.’, Alex said slowly.

‘Yes.’

There was a long, very long silence that Alex implemented, but Kara waited her out, she had to go through a few levels of encryption to understand what Kara actually meant.

‘Well that’s surprising.’, Alex finally said.

Kara snorted, despite herself.

‘But, I mean...’, Alex went on. ‘It’s okay, I think. What does Winn think about it?’

‘He thinks just what I think, that it’s very suspicious timing.’

‘You.. actually talked to him about this.’

‘A little.’, Kara’s eyes went back to Winn. He was now just floating, belly up, close to the shore. ‘Just the one time, and he kind of dismissed it pretty quickly. I mean, he agrees with me, something is happening since we’ve come here, but he think it’s because we’re here.’

‘And are you sure it’s not?’

‘No.’, she couldn’t help but whine, a little. ‘It’s all so very confusing.’

‘When is it ever _not confusing_ , when it comes to the two of you?’, Alex said a little too loudly. ‘I thought things between you were going well, Kara. In the past year, since the whole… thing with his dad.’

‘They were, they are! And now, they’re going even better than they were.’

‘And he agrees with this? He agrees that something’s happening at _Almost Verona?_ ’

Kara hesitated, but not for long. ‘Yes, he agrees. But he also said he always feels it.’

‘Oh damn.’, Alex sighed. ‘What do you want me to say, Kara? What do you need me to say?’

‘Tell me I’m not crazy. Tell me that there’s a chance this isn’t happening just because of _Almost Verona_.’

‘Kara’, Alex said slowly, ‘when it comes to you and Winn, you’re never crazy. Whatever you’re thinking, whatever you’re feeling, whether you realize it or not, it’s always real.’

She took a deep breath, but kept her mouth shut, because she saw that Winn had gotten out of the water and was making his way back to her.

‘But’, Alex went on, ‘for your sake, don’t decide now. Get home, put some space back between the two of you, and think about it.’

‘That’s the plan.’, Kara sighed. ‘Easier said than done.’

‘Who’s that?’, Winn whispered, having gotten to her side.

‘I called Alex.’, she said in a normal voice.

Of course, Winn smiled widely, and pushed his face very close to Kara’s so that he could yell a very high pitched _heeeeeey, Alex_ in the phone.

‘Oh my God.’, Alex bit out, ‘Did the sand make him even more obnoxious? I’m hanging up now.’

‘Okay.’, Kara chuckled.

‘Hey.’, Alex’s voice got softer. ‘Just… remember why you’re there, okay? To relax.’

That was a lie. They were not here on vacation, they weren’t here to relax. They were here on a mission, to find evidence to incriminate a bunch of nasty aliens. All Kara had to do was to focus on that, not on how the color of the ocean brought out the green in Winn’s eyes, or how many freckles the sun revealed on his skin, or the fact that she now knew how his collarbones felt under her fingers.

‘Everything okay?’, Winn asked with concern as soon as Kara ended the call.

‘Yeah, I just needed to talk to my sister.’

‘Okay.’, he didn’t question it. ‘Do you wanna go back to the suite? Or tan some more?’

‘Tan.’, Kara didn’t hesitate, stretching her entire length on the lounge chair she was on.

Winn was quick to settle on the one next to her.

The rest of the day passed easily, with them sunbathing, watching Stargate, dinner at the restaurant, some more Stargate, cuddling as they went to sleep.

///

The next day went by in a similar manner, but after dinner, they went to Rose’s book club. If _War of the Worlds_ was bad, _Romeo and Juliet_ was ten times worse.

Winn didn’t start arguing, though, for the longest of time. He calmly set back in his chair, wrapped a hand around Kara’s shoulder and listened, with interest, as every other person in the room showcased their opinions.

At the end of that, Rose turned her apprehensive eyes upon Kara and Winn.

‘What about you, darlings? What did you think of _Romeo and Juliet_?’

Kara shared a look with Winn, but he did easily relent, let her go on first.

‘Well, I personally agree with everything that has been said today. Which is weird, I know. But I’ve always been very undecided about _Romeo and Juliet_. I just can’t choose one side. There are days in which I think it’s the stupidest play ever written, and there are days in which it’s my favorite piece of literature.’

‘But-’, Rose tried, but Kara interrupted her.

‘The only thing I’ve always been consistent with is the fact that I believe that this whole mess could have easily been avoided with a little communication.’

Rose blinked at her a few times. ‘That is probably true, yes. Anything else?’

‘No.’, Kara shrugged, making Rose’s right eye twitch.

‘What do you think of Juliet and Romeo?’, the older woman insisted.

‘Some days I think they had the most beautiful love story in the universe.’, Kara nodded. ‘Other days, I think they were just stupid, overreacting, spoilt children.’

Rose did not get over that easily, but she did, and, still with apprehension in her eyes, turned to Winn.

Who took a deep breath and did not stop talking for 27 minutes. Kara timed him.

He never said anything good about _Romeo and Juliet_ , not about the play, the plot, or the characters. Winn, it seemed, absolutely hated the two of them, and he was not shy to explain why. Once again, he did this in a very well thought out method, logical and with good arguments to back up his opinion. Everytime Rose tried to interrupt him, Winn did not let her. He just kept on talking, calmly and unhurriedly, about why Juliet and Romeo really did suck at being humans.

By the end of it, Rose was silently seething, rage burning in her eyes, and everyone else in the room was staring at Winn in awe.

When they were in the privacy of their bedroom, Kara leveled Winn with a look.

‘I take it _Operation Get Kidnapped_ is a go?’

He grinned, proudly.

///

As part of _Operation Get Kidnapped_ , Kara and Winn got into a fight the next day.

It was fake, of course, the two of them having spent some time in bed that morning hashing it out, making up a reason. It was pretty ridiculous, Winn wanting to meet Kara’s mother, her refusing, claiming it was too soon. Stupid as hell, but it kinda fit with all the conversations they had in spaces they could have been heard.

So they got into a loud fight, on the beach that morning, after Winn was done swimming. The security guards were staring at them, unabashedly. One of them sent a text, and Rose and John appeared soon after.

They were wearing bathing suits and getting ready to go in the water, but they were also staring at Kara and Winn.

It wasn’t hard, for Kara to fake angry yells and devastated tears, mostly because she hated even the thought of Winn ever being this angry with her, for real.

After he stormed off, Kara took a minute to gather herself. Of course, Rose came to her, wrapping a hand around her shoulders and shushing her, in a very motherly way. Kara shivered, very unpleasantly.

‘It’ll be alright, dear.’, Rose said gently. ‘All men have a temper. But I’m sure he’ll calm down soon enough, and your reconciliation will be sweet.’

‘I hope so.’, Kara whispered, making her voice sound still affected.

‘Oh, I’m sure it will.’, the older woman winked. ‘Winn seems to be a really passionate man, judging by his yells.’ She frowned. ‘His apology better be just as passionate.’

Kara couldn’t really come up with an answer to that, flashes of Winn’s hands on her waist coming in mind unprompted.

When she made it back to the suite, Winn was still in the shower, she could hear him singing Taylor Swift lyrics.

Kara sad down on the couch, bringing her knees up to her chest. She stopped crying, but she still acted affected, it was what was expected.

Winn came out of the bedroom just in his boxers, hair still damp and skin a little red. He said nothing, as he kneeled on the ground in front of Kara. He gently grabbed her knees, arranging her legs until they were on the floor, on either side of him. He then kissed her thigh, once, very quickly, and pushed his cheek there, wrapping his arms around her waist.

‘I’ll wait.’, Winn said strongly. ‘I love you enough to wait, however long it takes you to realize that this is real. That our relationship is real, and important and… It’s a sun, Kara, not a passing falling star.’

It hurt her, a terrible amount, because it wasn’t true.

‘I’m sorry.’, Winn whispered against her skin, and Kara played along.

She gently grabbed his neck, bringing him up until they could share a sweet, unhurried kiss. Winn grinned wildly at her, tightening his hold on her waist.

‘Hold on.’, he said, and Kara didn’t understand it immediately.

Still, when Winn got up and took her with him, Kara was quick to wrap her legs around his waist and hold on to his shoulders. She shrieked while doing it, sure, but she was pretty secure in his hold.

Winn laughed all the way to the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

‘I’m gonna put you down now.’, he nodded seriously.

Kara rolled her eyes and started flying. So when Winn let go of her, even if she wasn’t holding on to him anymore, she was still floating.

‘That’s cool.’, Winn said, the tips of his ears red.

She rolled her eyes again, floating above the bed and throwing herself on it.

‘We should probably be late for lunch.’, she said pointedly.

‘D’uh.’, Winn nodded, heading for the dresser and slowly picking up his clothes.

///

The second they got into the room where the book club was held, Rose all but ran to their sides, grabbing the both of them in a hug.

‘I’m so glad you two made up!’, the older woman shrieked. ‘Oh, I knew you would, of course, but I’m so happy you got over it quickly!’

Winn mumbled a response, but it wasn’t much. Rose glared at him, a little, but she started the session soon after.

They were reading a Supergirl graphic novel.

Kara was hyperventilating, silent in her chair, as Rose handed each of them a copy. Winn, however, was very excited.

‘Oh, I just love Supergirl, don’t you?’

Most of the other patrons around agreed, but Rose said nothing, just smiled, evilly, at Winn.

‘They know.’, was the first thing Kara said as they got back to the bedroom.

‘I don’t think they do.’, Winn was trying to calm her down, slowly bringing arguments to strengthen his point.

They made sense, but Kara still felt apprehensive. So they called Alex, who seemed to be on Winn’s side. She also did not mention anything about the last conversation she had with Kara, which she was very grateful for.

She fell asleep that night wrapped tightly in Winn’s arms, who, bless his heart, was still trying to calm her down.

///

The next day started off in a mess.

They watched Stargate as they had breakfast, there were just 5 episodes left in the series. Kara wasn’t ready to let it go yet, she was at the last ends of her period, she was maybe falling in love with her best friend, as they were faking a relationship. So really, her emotions were running high.

The episode they watched was another Rodney centered one, in which he went back to Earth and accepted an invitation to a science talk. Not terribly interesting, but, at her prodding, he did invite Jennifer to be his date.

Clearly, Kara was excited.

It was a nice episode, albeit different from the rest, because they were back on Earth and there were no aliens involved. But Rodney was Rodney, and Jennifer was struggling to put up with him. Bill Nye was also there, Neil deGrasse Tyson too, and Winn said this might just be his second favorite episode, after the finale.

And of course, there was some sort of impending apocalypse, that they had to fix.

At the end of it, they got separated. Roney and the guy responsible for the apocalypse triggering screw up were working on one side of the base, and Jennifer got trapped in another. She was wet, because the water pipes broke, she was cold, because the apocalyptic scenario involved freezing temperatures, she was dying, and Rodney was supposed to save the world.

He didn’t. Instead, he let people not as smart as him save the world, as he rushed to save Jennifer. Rodney had to axe down a door, and Jennifer wasn’t breathing when he got to her. He gave her CPR, begging _please come back to me_ , but he did save her.

As he was babbling away about how awesome he was for using an axe, Jennifer kissed him.

Kara grabbed a hold of Winn’s hand.

‘I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.’, Rodney told her, completely in awe.

‘I love you.’, she responded. ‘I have for some time now. Just wanted you to know.’

Kara made some sort of noise, recognizing the words Rodney said to Jennifer in the last episode she cried at. Winn wrapped his arms around her, just as the characters kissed again.

The episode was over soon after, and Winn paused it, turning to look at Kara with a fond smile on his face.

‘At least you’re not crying.’

‘That was beautiful.’, Kara breathed out.

‘Yes it was.’, Winn tilted his head, still smiling.

‘That was-’

‘I know.’

‘And he-’

‘Yeah.’

‘And she-’

‘Kara, I know.’, Winn laughed.

She shook her head, mind still going a mile a minute.

‘At least you’re not crying.’, Winn said, again.

‘How much am I going to cry at the series finale?’

‘Oh, a lot.’, Winn snorted. ‘For sure, a lot.’

Kara sighed, feeling her cheeks blushing.

‘It’s okay.’, he chuckled, hugging her properly. ‘The ability to fall in love with fictional characters is terribly endearing, in my house. Plus’, he snorted. ‘I’ll be here, we’ll get to the series finale together.’

She nodded. ‘And then what?’

Winn paused. ‘Uh…’

‘We could start watching something else.’, Kara ventured.

She knew what Winn was thinking about. They had less than a week to spend at _Almost Verona_ , and that was a best case scenario, if nothing forced them to leave early. Starting another tv show meant they had to finish watching it alone, back home.

‘Stargate Universe only has two seasons.’, Winn finally said. ‘And it’s the logical course of action. It’s not as good as SG1 and SGA, but-’

‘Sold.’, Kara cut him off. ‘We’ll watch Stargate Universe.’

Winn kissed her cheek, and under her ear, using it as a distraction to whisper to her.

‘And when we go home?’

‘We’ll watch Stargate Universe.’, Kara said again, loudly. It wasn’t an answer to what Winn was asking, but she didn’t really had one.

He still took it with a smile on his face, as he urged Kara to put her bathing suit on. She could actually swim today, so they went to the pool, as usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The Stargate Atlantis scene I mentioned](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXBGZbswUrM)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As their stay at _Almost Verona_ reaches its end, Winn and Kara are still struggling with making the Romeros kidnap them, but with their feelings for each other, as well.

 

Even though they hadn’t really discussed it, it was clear that Winn had a plan for _Operation Get Kidnapped_ , and that plan was to piss the Romeros off. As much as possible.

Throughout the next couple of days, it became very clear.

He started off easy. When they saw the older couple, Winn would say something just the tiniest bit rude, just the slightest bit off, something that would made their eyes twitch and their smiles falter. As the days passed, the things Winn said got worse and worse, growing to full on insults.

The Romeros said nothing of them, though. They got angry every time, that much was clear, but they’d just huff and make some sort of excuse to walk away.

Insults were not the only thing Winn did, he also started breaking things. A glass at dinner, a lounge chair on the beach. One day, he even managed to detach the railing from the pool, Kara had no idea how, because it didn’t look like he was carrying a screwdriver in his pants.

He started being rude with the staff, even managed to make a waitress cry, one evening. He also got drunk every day. Well, he didn’t, but he acted like he got drunk at every dinner.

It was somewhat fun, for Kara, most of the time. Of course, she had to act like she hated it, like she was massively pissed off with Winn. She berated him every night, all the way to their suite, but as soon as they got into the bedroom, they burst out laughing.

There was also another thing Winn started doing. While everything else was directly targeting Rose and John’s rage against him, Winn also started targeting what they thought was the older couple’s purpose.

Even though Kara didn’t think it was possible, Winn got even more flirty with her. He touched her more, not hesitating before putting his hand on her ass, up her thigh, under her breasts, especially if she was wearing a bathing suit. He kissed her a lot more often, too, always a lot more passionately.

It wasn’t helping Kara. At all. But, hopefully, it was going to help their mission.

///

They only had three more full days left, but that evening they attended the last dancing class of their stay. They were supposed to learn how to tango.

They didn’t. Kara tried, really she did, but Winn did not. He didn't get any of the steps right, he spent more time feeling her up than listening to John and he was being particularly loud, with his innuendos but his laughter, as well.

There was steam coming out of John’s ears by the end of it, but that had been the point of it all.

As they made it back to the suite, Winn continued the charade. He started off by kissing her gently, but by the time Kara’s back hit the table, her lips already felt bruised and Winn’s hands were under her dress.

He wasted no time to pick her up, settling her on the table, easily pushing himself between her knees. Kara went with it.

She had to. She wanted to. She kissed him back with as much ardor as he wanted, wrapping her arms and legs tightly around his body.

When they stopped for breath, Winn’s shirt was on the floor and there was a hickey on his collarbone. Kara will never forget the way he moaned when she did that. His hands were still under her dress, nails digging far up her thighs.

He was also hard, which was a first. And really, Kara was…

‘Bedroom?’, he asked, his voice shaky.

She nodded.

Once again, Winn carried her to the bedroom, but it was so much more, this time. Because she felt him, felt him _everywhere_ , as clear as she felt her heart beating wildly in her chest. And he did not once stop kissing her, which made it very hard for Kara to detach herself from the situation.

In the bedroom, Winn quickly threw Kara on the bed and turned around. He mumbled an apology and ran for the bathroom, she heard the shower turn on a second later.

Kara debated, for a few minutes, she actually thought of joining Winn in the shower. Honestly, it would have been an incredible experience, considering the size of the shower stall, and that of the jacuzzi. And Winn had left the door unlocked.

But in the end, Kara crossed her legs and thought of Alex’s words: _remember what you’re there for_. She was here to catch the Romeros, not screw up her friendship with Winn.

So by the time Winn came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist because he didn’t bring his pajamas with him, Kara was half asleep.

He apologized, again, a bit more strongly than before, after he got under the covers and shut the lights off.

‘I’m not.’, Kara answered, snuggling into Winn’s side.

It took a while, but he did relax.

‘This wasn’t supposed to happen.’, he breathed out.

‘I know.’

‘What are we going to do?’

She had no idea, but… ‘We’ll figure it out after we catch the Romeros.’

He repeated the words back to her, paired them with a kiss on the temple. They fell asleep as they always did, cuddling and silently thinking about each other.

///

Winn’s apology continued the next day, albeit silently.

He ordered only her favorites for breakfast, scheduled them for a massage, instead of their morning pool time. For lunch, he once again got her favorite, but they ate it on the beach. And as they splashed in the water afterwards, he never once said the words _I’m an octopus_ , for which Kara was incredibly thankful for.

Winn didn’t get sleazy with her, as much as he did in the past days. He still kissed her and touched her, but they were pretty innocent touches, now.

And as they watched the last four episodes of Stargate Atlantis, he cuddled her without turning it into a makeout session. When she started crying at the last episode, Winn hugged her tightly, and did not let go of Kara until her sniffles died down.

‘I loved it.’, she admitted, and he smiled widely at that.

‘Should we get started on Stargate Universe?’

She didn’t hesitate in nodding, even though she should have. Kara really should have.

///

On their second to last day, they only moved off the beach for meals.

At one point, Winn was asleep on a lounge chair next to her, and Kara was exchanging innocent texts with Alex. At the end of that, her sister complimented her tan. It took Kara a while, but she realized she didn’t check Winn’s Instagram feed since they arrived at _Almost Verona_.

He didn’t post too much, and most of them were landscapes of the sea, or artistic pictures of details he saw on the beach, or around the resort. But between those, there were a few pictures of Kara.

Ish.

There was a picture of her back (and ass), as she stood with her ankles in the water, body bathing in sunlight. Another picture showed off her legs, glistening in the sun, her bright pink toenails creating a stark contrast against the sand. There was a picture taken the night of the party, of their legs, her red shoes against his dress shoes.

The last picture Winn had posted was taken the day before, when Kara had taken a break from reading the _Supergirl_ novel. She was lying down, face front on the lounge chair, the comic forgotten on the sand next to her. Winn took the picture from above, his feet visible, even if the focus was on Kara’s ass, more so, on the way her bathing suit had moved a little, revealing a pretty clear tan line. She blushed, a lot, thought about getting angry but decided against it, and then laughed a lot, when she saw that Clark commented on the picture, a simple angry emoticon. Winn was definitely in trouble, once they got back.

There was only one proper picture with the two of them, and it was a goofy one taken on one of the first nights. She was pulling a ridiculous face and Winn was doing the very best to do the same, without relinquishing his glass of vodka. It wasn’t flattering, but it was kinda cute. Judging by all the comments their friends left, they thought the same.

‘Who are you texting?’, a mumbling, sleepy Winn said, stirring awake. ‘The way you’re looking at your phone, I’m getting jealous.’

‘Alex.’, Kara was quick to lie. ‘I was talking to Alex.’

He didn’t look like he believed her, but he didn’t push.

///

Surprisingly enough, Winn kept his mouth shut that evening at the book club, as everyone was discussing the Supergirl novel they read.

It was a ridiculous comic, really, holding not even a spark of truth. Supergirl was portrayed as a snarky girly-girl, who was just as preoccupied with her nail polish as she was with saving the day. The story was awful as well, it made no sense and most of it wasn’t physically possible.

But everyone loved it, because they loved Supergirl. Kara did her best not to blush as she heard everyone speak so highly of her, and played the fangirl part when her turn to speak came.

Winn kept his opinion very brief. ‘There’s nothing I don’t love about Supergirl, but what I love most about Supergirl is her suit, I mean have you seen that beauty?’

By the end of it, they were sure that Rose had no idea Kara was Supergirl. At least, they had the element of surprise.

///

Winn set the tablecloth on fire at dinner, because he was still working hard to annoy the Romeros. It worked, considering John all but yelled at them to _just go to bed, already_ and Rose was very loud about how it was coming off of their check.

‘Do you think it worked?’, Kara asked when they got back to the bedroom.

‘I don’t know.’, Winn shrugged. ‘But I’m thinking tomorrow, we should go out with a bang.’

There was an excited glint in his eyes, and Kara felt like this was going to end with Supergirl saving the day. Still, she nodded. It wasn’t like they got anything to lose.

///

The last day went by pretty well. Again, they spent most of it on the beach, or in the water. Winn was still being a nuisance to the staff, he was still very loving to Kara. Business as usual.

And then, after dinner, he suggested they’d go on the beach, spend some time there as a farewell. They were leaving in the morning, theoretically. Practically, they both hoped the Romeros will kidnap them before that.

Kara still remembered Winn saying _Let’s go out with a bang_ , so she nodded, put on a pair of jeans and followed him out to the beach.

It was lovely, really. There was a small breeze, but it wasn’t too cold, especially not with Winn sticking close to her. The stars were visible, the beach was bathed in soft yellow lights, the waves hitting the shore were music to Kara’s ears.

Winn was a constant heat by her side, guiding her down the shoreline, in comfortable silence. He was clearly heading to the small patch of forest they saw from their window, on the far end of the private beach. Kara didn’t ask, just followed him.

As soon as they passed the tree line, Winn whispered, very lowly.

‘There’s a security guard following us.’

Kara hummed, because she noticed him as well.

‘Let’s give him a show.’, Winn whispered with some finality, stopping them from walking by standing in front of Kara.

She blinked at him, surprised because he did it very sharply.

‘Well?’, Winn said, raising an eyebrow.

Kara nodded, mildly confused.

Of course, her confusion disappeared when Winn wrapped his hands around her waist, dragging them down to her thighs, kind of pointedly. Kara giggled, of course she did, but she also went with it, and jumped.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, trusting Winn to keep her up. He did, easily, so Kara kissed him.

Too soon, she completely lost herself in kissing Winn, kissing him desperately, like it was the last time. Because it probably was, and the thought of never doing this again was painful to Kara. Unavoidable, and painful.

Her back hit a tree, surprising her into a yelp. Winn snickered, but he also moved his kisses down her neck. They were soft kisses, that made Kara’s toes curl and breathing falter.

And then Winn bit down on her skin, working for a while at what will surely become an impressive hickey. Kara couldn’t stop the surprised sound that came out of her throat.

Winn chuckled, giving her a chaste kiss on the lips, before slowly lowering Kara to the ground.

‘Payback.’, he ran a finger over the hickey she had left on his collarbone. ‘It’s only fair, even if yours will disappear quicker.’

Kara huffed, mildly aggravated.

‘Is the security guard gone?’, Winn asked.

She listened, nodding when she didn’t hear anything.

‘Oh, good.’, Winn grinned. ‘Help me pick up twigs.’

‘What?’, Kara said slowly, watching in confused shock as Winn started making his way deeper into the small forrest, bending down every other step.

‘Oh, did I forget to mention we’re making a fire?’

He didn’t explain more than that, no matter how much Kara prodded. In a daze, she helped him pick up twigs.

///

Winn made the fire in the middle of the beach. He was very thorough about it, finding the perfect dry place for it, taking his sweet time building the twigs up, making a rock circle around it for protection.

Small as it was, the fire was beautiful. Winn pulled out a small packet of marshmallows from his pocket, expertly roasting them before sitting down behind Kara on a lounge chair, wrapping his arms around her waist and pushing his chin to her shoulder.

‘Thanks for this.’, Kara said, because this, these moments, between the beach and the stars, between Winn’s warmth and the fire’s, it not only helped Kara gather strength for whatever was about to happen that night, but it also warmed her heart.

Winn kissed the side of her head. ‘Anytime.’

He took a deep breath. ‘And I mean that, Kara. I’m always going to be here for you, no matter what.’

‘I-’

‘No matter what.’, Winn said strongly.

‘I know that.’, Kara whispered. ‘I just don’t know…’

She wasn’t able to continue.

‘It’s okay.’, Winn said, and even if she couldn’t see his face, she heard the smile. ‘I’m not saying that I’m gonna wait, that I’ve been waiting, cause that’s not what’s happening. But if you’ll ever be ready to talk about it, I’ll be here.’

‘Thank you.’, was all Kara was able to whisper, right then.

She would have wanted to continue the conversation, somewhat, but the security guards came running, with Rose and John close by.

The fire was quickly put out, as Rose and John yelled. A lot. Angry didn’t even begin to describe how they were, and through it all, Winn did not once apologise, not even close.

‘I don’t know what happened to you, Winn’, Rose said once she managed to calm down, ‘but you better figure yourself out before you lose Kara.’

Winn snorted at that, pulling Kara closer to him. ‘She loves me, I’m not going to lose her.’

It made her shiver, because there was no doubt in Winn’s voice. None whatsoever, and it wasn’t just because he was a good actor.

His words had a very different effect on Rose. She took a deep breath, all the anger she had in her being replaced with something else, something dark. As her eyes settled on Winn, a shiver of fear ran all through Kara’s body.

By the way Winn tensed, he felt it too.

‘You’re leaving us, at least.’, Rose said. ‘Tomorrow, is it?’

‘Yeah, but I mean’, Winn gulped, ‘Kara and I liked it here, a whole lot. Maybe we’ll come back some time.’

‘Not likely.’, Rose said without missing a beat, as John snorted.

That settled it, then. Something was definitely going to happen tonight.

///

Once they got back to their bedroom, they called Alex. There was already an attack team ready, 20 some minutes out. The tracker that was sneakily hid in Kara’s earing was activated, the _I’m tired_ text was already drafted, all they had to do was hit send when the moment came.

Alex was nervous, but she and her team were also ready to attack.

Winn was nervous, but he was ready to get this over with and rid the general population of the Romeros.

Kara was nervous, but she was ready to kick some ass and keep the Romeros as far away from Winn as possible.

They got into bed, like everything was normal. They shut off the lights, cuddled under the covers. But neither of them fell asleep, and Winn had his phone in his hand, ready to send the text in two quick swipes.

‘It’ll be alright.’, he kept saying.

‘Sure.’, Kara countered. ‘We just have to let ourselves be captured by evil aliens and make sure we won’t die until Alex comes for us. Oh, and do all that without revealing the fact that I’m Supergirl.’

‘Easy peasy.’, Winn snorted. ‘We got this, babe.’

She was too fired up and anxious to even point out that nobody was listening.

///

Three hours later, Kara’s superhearing picked up movement on the hallway, and soon enough, she heard the click of the door to the suit. Winn sent the text, shoved his phone under the pillow, kissed Kara straight on the lips, and collapsed on top of her, faking sleep.

She took a deep breath and did the same thing.

And when Rose and John barged in, displaying a lot more physical strength than an elderly couple should, Kara acted like the frightened little girl they expected her to be. She screamed, she yelled for her boyfriend, she cried.

Winn struggled against John’s hold, tried to punch him in the face. When that didn’t work, he also started screaming for Kara.

And then they were done screaming, because they both got a nasty kick to the head.

///

Kara woke up with a start, and it took a few seconds for her to gather her bearings.

She was sitting on a chair, her hands chained down to the ground, in what looked like an abandoned factory. Next to her, Winn was in a similar predicament. Their clothes were gone, Winn was left in boxers and Kara was very thankful that besides her underwear, they also left her training bra on.

‘Oh good, you’re both awake.’, John cheerfully said, before he started punching Winn.

Kara screamed, moved to rip her shackles apart, but Winn whispered her name, so she didn’t. Instead, she kept on screaming, begging John to stop, kept on crying, as Winn was spitting up blood.

‘I’m fine.’, was the first thing he said after John was done beating him up to a pulp.

‘Why are you doing this?’, she sobbed. ‘What do you want?’

‘Your youth.’, Rose’s eyes glinted in excitement.

‘Your love.’, John added.

‘As creepy as that was’, Winn was still spitting up blood, ‘it tells us nothing useful.’

John hit Winn again, this time in the stomach. Kara cried harder at that, but she kept her mouth shut, as Rose started talking.

‘You see, the two of us, we can’t live off food and water, as you so conveniently do. Our rase dictates we live off something else.’

‘Rase?’, Winn spluttered after a beat. ‘Are you aliens?’

Kara had to give it to him. He was clearly in pain, with blood still dripping from his mouth, but he managed to sound properly in shock.

‘Yes’, Rose’s grin was awful, ‘and in order to survive, we need your love and your youth.’

‘That still makes no sense.’, Winn pointed out.

John kicked his stomach again. ‘You’re going to have sex.’, he said slowly. ‘And we’re going to harness your energy while you do it.’

Needless to say, Winn shut up at that.

///

Kara was hyperventilating, to put it mildly. It was clear the other kidnapped couples were dead, the sex energy harnessing being a one time thing. A one last thing, and Kara and Winn were heading towards that.

This was bad. They’ve always assumed the kidnapping took place somewhere near the resort, but it didn’t seem like that was the case. Kara didn’t know how long they’ve been out, so she had no idea how far away from the resort they were, how far Alex was.

Winn was hurt, she needed to get him out of here. But could she risk revealing herself as Supergirl? She was strong enough to take down one of the Romeros, but both of them at the same time? It was a risk, that she didn’t want to take, in fear of Winn getting even more hurt.

She strained her hearing, but she didn’t hear anything even resembling Alex.

Coming back to herself, Kara realized that John was rolling a ratty wheeled bed to their side, and Winn was saying her name, over and over again.

Kara finally turned to him.

‘It’s okay.’, Winn smiled at her. ‘We’re going to be okay, Kara.’

He turned to the Romeros. ‘If we do this, you’re going to let us go, right?’

John snorted, pulling out pillows from a box and placing them on the bed, which already had a clean, white sheet on top of it.

‘Of course, darlings.’, Rose said. She didn’t even try to sound convincing.

‘Kara.’, Winn made her look back to him. ‘Come on, babe. We have to do this.’

She knew that, but it didn’t make her feel any safer, any better, her heart was still beating wildly.

‘The sooner we get this over with, the better.’, Winn went on. ‘There’s no reason to stall.’

Except that was exactly what they needed to do. They had to stall, until Alex could come for them. Hopefully, Kara’s tracker still worked and she was on her way.

‘Okay.’, she whispered.

‘Lovely.’, Rose clapped her hands, grinning wildly. ‘John, take off their cuffs.’

He did just that, starting with Winn. Kara had to work really hard not to punch John into oblivion as soon as her hands were free, but she managed to refrain. Instead, she ran to Winn, who was already standing.

Kara was still crying, but she kept her nerve. She ran her hands over Winn’s torso, looking for cracked ribs, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t find any. But he was still bleeding, from the corner of his mouth and his eyebrow, and the skin on his stomach was already turning purple.

Still, Winn wrapped his arms tightly around her, and he took her prodding without arguing about it, even when Kara started wiping away the blood from his face, as gently as possible.

He smiled at her. ‘We’re going to be okay.’

Kara didn’t need the reassurance, really. Best case scenario, Alex and her team will get here soon. Worst case scenario, Supergirl will do everything in her power to get Winn out of this mess.

‘Come on, then, darlings.’, Rose sweetly said. ‘The bed’s all yours.’

She really didn’t want to do this, but Winn grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the bed. He sat down on the side of it, kind of pointedly with his back to the Romeros.

Kara eyed them wearily. She wanted nothing more than to paint the walls with their blood, but she had to act afraid of them. The Romeros were both grinning wildly, a wretched thing, just a few steps away from the bed. They were holding hands and Kara noticed that their fingertips were glowing.

Winn squeezed her fingers, his other hand gently settling on her upper thigh. He was trembling, but he smiled when Kara looked down at him.

‘Come on.’, he said in a whisper. ‘Come here.’

Kara sat on his lap, careful to not hurt him. Winn’s hands easily settled on her hips, squeezing in reassurance. She couldn’t stop her hands from roaming all over his face, still trying to take away some of the blood.

It was useless, and she choked on a sob. It was as real as the blood under her nails.

One of Winn’s hands left her hips to grab a hold of Kara’s wrist, thus making her hands still. He smiled up at her, very lovingly.

‘Just ignore them.’, he said softly. ‘It’s just you and me here.’

After Kara nodded, Winn let go of her wrist, slowly but suring moving that hand to her neck, down her chest and settling it on her breast. He never once looked away from Kara.

She took a deep breath, which made his fingers twitch, and Kara closed her eyes, but only after her lips met Winn’s.

This wasn’t anything new. By this point, Kara knew very well how Winn kissed, how his hands felt on her skin. Even if this was more skin than they ever shared, even if Winn’s chest was very hot against hers, even if the hand he had on her ass was under her panties, it still felt familiar.

As familiar to the warmth she felt in her chest, the desire in her stomach.

But she couldn’t just get lost in it, Kara still kept an eye out on the Romeros. They hadn’t moved from where they stood, they were still watching them with evil grins on their faces, but the glow coming from their hands was growing, up to their shoulders now.

Winn bit on her neck, hard, startling a moan out of her, making her upper body jerk away from his, as her hips jerked too. He was hard, very much so, and when Kara looked back at his face, she froze. His eyes were glazed over, desire clear in them. He was panting, badly, his hips moving, slightly, against her, seeking friction.

It wasn’t normal, Kara realized. He shouldn’t have been this aroused, they haven’t been making out for that long, and they were still in the middle of a life and death situation.

He moaned her name, begging, his hands grabbing her ass and bringing her hips forward, against his.

It was the Romero’s doing, she realized. Whatever they were doing, it was affecting Winn, making him more… susceptible. Thankfully, she didn’t feel anything, not more than usual.

Winn kissed her again, rougher than before, moaning without abandon, squirming against her.

Through her daze, Kara heard Alex’s voice. They were three minutes out, apparently.

She wrapped her arms around Winn’s head, hiding him from view as much as she could. She whispered the information against his lips, and he shuddered, but nodded. Winn also slapped her ass, but Kara hoped his brain assimilated the information.

For the next three minutes, Winn kept on moving his erection against her thighs, he kept on roughly grabbing her ass and her breasts, he kept on kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Kara went on with it, put on a show, keeping her eyes on the Romeros, who still weren’t moving, but glowing stronger with each passing second.

As she heard Alex and her team getting closer, Kara moved Winn’s head. He was biting a hickey into her neck, but she was able to whisper in his ear.

‘When I say, you need to lie down.’

He mumbled an ‘okay’ against her skin, before going back to bruising it.

Kara moaned, again, her fingers digging into Winn’s bare shoulders to the point of pain, probably, but she was able to listen to Alex.

When they were right outside of the factory gates, Kara yanked on Winn’s hair.

‘Now, Winn. Now!’

It took a beat, and she had to push at his chest, but Winn did throw his body back against the bed. He did it with a desperate moan, that she had to completely ignore. Kara’s laser eyes were fixed on the Romeros’ clasped hands, and she hit them just as the factory gates opened, Alex, J’onn and five other agents storming in.

Kara threw herself off Winn, climbing over him in order to get closer to the Romeros, and she wasted no time in throwing herself into the fight.

She focused on Rose, as J’onn took on John. In the corner of her eye, she saw that Winn was snapping out of it. He kicked over the bed, pushing it against a wall and taking cover behind it.

Way too soon, all the DEO agents were knocked unconscious on the ground, Alex was conscious, but probably had a broken leg, she wasn’t getting up any time soon. It was only Kara and J’onn left, against the Romeros, and it wasn’t going well.

The aliens were strong, surprisingly so, and they were good, tactical fighters. They dodged Kara’s laser vision at first, but now she was too scared to use it or her ice breath, in fear of further hurting the agents. So she stuck to hand to hand combat, and J’onn was doing the same, but they were getting nowhere.

Suddenly, Winn yelled their names. He also ordered them to duck, which Kara and J’onn were quick to do. She watched as two light beams hit the Romeros straight in the chest. They screamed, in pain, an animalistic, inhuman sound, before they both fell to the floor, unconscious.

Turning around, Kara saw Winn. He was standing over the bodies of two agents, clearly having used their guns, which he was still holding, one in each hand. Kara knew those stun guns were heavy, and Winn’s muscles were bulging, but they were holding up.

In awe, she watched as Winn let out a long breath, gently lowering the guns to the ground. He winced, grabbing at his stomach, and that made Kara move.

She was by his side in a flash, hands once again roaming all over him.

‘I’m sorry.’, Winn babbled, as desperate as she felt, his pupils still dilated. ‘I don’t know what came over me, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have-’

Kara kissed him, very briefly, before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding on for dear life. She may have started crying again, but it wasn’t for show anymore, it was in pure relief. Winn shut up, hugging her just as tightly back, taking a few deep breaths and letting them out, slowly.

‘So.’, J’onn said calmly. ‘What happened?’

Inexplicably, Winn started laughing, pretty hysterical.

‘Are you still high on Romero sex fumes?’, Kara put her hand on his forehead. It wasn’t terribly hot.

‘Quite possibly.’, Winn took her hand away. ‘I need a shower. And clothes. And a medic.’

‘There are medics waiting outside.’, J’onn said, eyes moving to all the people that were on the floor. ‘The clothes are going to have to wait.’

Still, he took off his jacket and gave it to Kara, and gently took the jacket off an agent, giving it to Winn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter left, guys! what do you think is gonna happen?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After they get back home, Kara and Winn deal with the fallout at what happened at _Almost Verona_ differently. It takes a while for them to get on the same page again.

 

 

Three hours later, they both got checked out and deemed healthy, Alex had a sprained ankle, and they were back at _Almost Verona_. Everybody was awake, the FBI and DEO dealing with taking statements, and everyone was staring at Kara and Winn as they were heading to the suite.

Tulip and Marty were the only ones to approach them, kindly asking if they were okay. The older couple were bewildered, clearly, and Kara had half of mind to ask what the agents told them, but she didn’t.

‘We’re fine.’, Winn said. ‘We’ll be fine, we just desperately need a shower and a nap.’

‘I just can’t believe-’, Tulip started, but her husband cut her off.

‘We’re all just glad you’re okay, kids. Thank you.’

Winn started shaking by her side, so Kara grabbed his hand and she smiled, thankful, at the older couple. They left without another word, but even once they got to the bedroom, Winn was still shaking. Clearly, the shock finally got to him.

She sat him down on the bed, as she went and turned on the shower.

He said nothing, as she gently commanded him to move, as she pushed him in the shower stall, straight under the spray of hot water. That seemed to snap him out of it, and he stared at the boxers he was still wearing.

‘I’ll leave you to it.’, Kara said gently, but Winn grabbed a hold of her wrist, keeping her in place.

He didn’t look in her eyes, but he did whisper a barely heard ‘please’. So Kara turned on all the shower heads, letting the water spray her, as well.

It was a very intimate situation, more so than most things they’ve done in the past weeks. Kara washed Winn’s body as gently as possible, being extra careful around his cuts and bruises. When she got to washing his hair, that was when Winn finally relaxed. He hummed, a calm sound, as his body sagged back against the tiles.

As soon as she was done, Winn wrapped both of his hands around her waist and brought her close. They shared a long hug, in the shower, under the hot water, a hug that was different than all the ones before. It was filled with relief and pride at achieving their mission, happiness and unaltered joy. But it was also filled with the exhaustion that ran deep through their bones, and the anxiousness of what was about to come.

Kara had no idea what was going to happen next, with the two of them. She didn’t even know what she wanted to happen, what options they had.

But Winn’s words quickly came to her mind, the words he told her earlier tonight, on the beach. _I’m always going to be here for you, no matter what_. She held on to that, as strong as she held onto Winn.

///

Alex was waiting for them in the living room. She merely raised an eyebrow at them, despite clearly figuring out that they shared a shower.

‘J’onn’s going to drive the two of you back.’

Winn groaned, started whining about J’onn’s rough martian hands touching his car, but they both ignored him.

‘What about you?’, Kara asked.

Alex grinned. ‘I’m injured, I’m going to get on a plane.’

Still, Alex was kind enough to let Kara know she’ll be waiting at her apartment, with food and wine.

Kara fell asleep in the backseat of the car just as the sun was coming up. Winn was already snoring in the passenger seat.

///

When she woke up, J’onn had parked the car in front of her apartment building and Winn was already gone.

She managed to keep it together until she got to her apartment, but once she sat down next to Alex, Kara started crying and didn’t stop for a long while, not even when she told her sister everything that happened in the past weeks.

///

Kara had to make a decision, she knew that. She either had to ask Winn out on a proper date, or she had to snuff that possibility out. Again.

In order to choose, she had to, somehow, realize if everything she felt while they were at _Almost Verona_ was just a result of their close proximity and acting.

Kara had no idea how to get to the bottom of it, she didn’t know where to start.

Nowhere, apparently, she was going to start nowhere because when she got to the DEO the next morning, Winn was nowhere to be found. J’onn informed her that he had taken all of his vacation days and drove to Star City.

Winn needed a break, J’onn said. He deserved it, J’onn said.

He was running, Kara thought. Running from her.

///

Honestly, Kara did her best to not think about Winn. About the fact that he was miles away, about how he looked at her in the shower, that last night at _Almost Verona_ , or the way his hands felt against her skin.

But she just… couldn’t help it. Winn constantly popped up in her mind.

Every time she made coffee in the morning, she thought of how he wouldn’t give Kara her cup before cuddling her for a while.

Every time she had to choose what shoes to wear, her eyes kept skipping to her red kitten heels, and while she remembered dancing with Winn, she thought she’ll never be able to wear them again.

Every time she put on the Supergirl suit, she thought of Winn saying it was his favorite part of that stupid comic.

Every time her eyes went to her bookshelf, they skipped immediately to _Romeo and Juliet_ , and she thought of the calm manner Winn hated the play.

Every time she wanted to watch something on tv, she thought of Stargate Universe and how she won’t be able to watch it without him.

Every time she walked into the DEO, she thought of how powerful Winn looked in the abandoned factory, guns blazing, blood dripping.

Every time she took a shower, she thought of the best hug of her life, in a shower booth in _Almost Verona_ , on one of the worst days of her life.

Every night she went to sleep feeling empty and alone, craving Winn’s arms around her and his breath on her neck.

Every time she thought about Winn, she missed him, terribly so. And every time she missed him, Kara remembered his words.

 _I’m always going to be here for you, no matter what_.

But he wasn’t here, and every time she realized that, Kara had to struggle against her tears.

///

It took two weeks for Alex to get fed up with Kara’s moping.

‘It’s clear that you’re in love with Winn, what the hell are you waiting for?’

Kara didn’t think that was true. But she knew that she could, very easily, fall in love with him right now. It was just a tiny step further, a tiny step that she could quickly take.

The pain she felt because he was away from her, the longing and desperation, it all proved that what Kara felt at _Almost Verona_ was real. It had nothing to do with their acting and everything to do with Winn.

But she was scared, because there was an uncertainty. Winn never said he’d… He said they’d talk, he never said anything about being with her.

‘He said it the last time.’, Alex said softly. ‘He was the one to take a chance, then. It’s your turn now.’

Alex was right. As scared as she was, Kara wanted to fly to Star City, take Winn in her arms and never let go.

She didn’t do that. Instead, she texted Winn, the first communication they had since _Almost Verona_.

_When you come back home, could we go back to watching SGU?_

It took Winn a painful five hours to respond, and all he said _If that’s what you want, sure_. It wasn’t much to go on, but Kara felt hope.

///

Another week passed, and Winn still wasn't back. He didn’t call, either, didn’t text, didn’t email, nothing. It hurt Kara, maybe not as much as not seeing him, but it still hurt.

So when she saw that Winn had texted her, in the middle of a Thursday, Kara ran to the CatCo bathrooms and locked herself in a stall, before opening the text.

It was a picture, surprisingly so. Winn was in a comic book store, and he had sent her a picture of the latest Supergirl comic.

The cover was absolutely ridiculous. It showcased Supergirl in the arms of a very large man. His muscles were impossibly bulged, completely anatomically incorrect, the man looked like he could squeeze the life out of Supergirl between two fingers.

But he was holding her gently, somehow, looking lovingly into her eyes. And Supergirl was looking into his in exactly the same way, her fingers placed gently on the man’s jaw.

Kara had no idea who this guy was, but she didn’t like him very much.

Winn sent another text, as she was staring at the picture.

_How can guys like us even have a chance, when Supergirl can get a guy like this?_

The ground kind of shook under Kara’s feet, disbelief settling in her chest, as well as a small bit of anger. She always felt angry when Winn undersold himself.

_I’m sure Supergirl doesn’t want a guy like that. She doesn’t want a guy who could bench press three times her weight, she wants a guy that makes her heart go crazy._

She surprised herself by not hesitating before hitting send, and Winn surprised her by calling ten seconds later.

‘Hey.’, he was smiling, talking softly. ‘Am I interrupting anything?’

‘No.’, Kara also found herself smiling. ‘I mean, I’m at CatCo, but I’m hiding in the bathroom.’

Winn snorted at that, before he took a deep breath.

‘So, I’m coming back home on Saturday. Late at night, but, I was thinking that maybe, if you don’t have plans for Sunday-’

‘Stargate?’, Kara excitedly interrupted his babble.

‘Yeah.’, Winn chuckled. ‘Stargate.’

‘Yes!’, she shrieked, excitement seeping through. She instantly felt lighter, even if she knew her anxiousness will kick in soon enough, because she will have to talk to Winn.

But for now, she felt excited. ‘I can’t wait.’

‘Yeah?’, there was a fond smile in his voice.

‘Yeah, yes.’, Kara was quick to nod. ‘I missed you.’

Winn was silent for a while, but he was still smiling when he spoke again.

‘That’s nice to hear.’

They ended the call soon after, and Kara spent the rest of the day somewhere on Cloud 9. Of course, the crash, when it happened, was pretty horrible. She had no idea how to tell Winn what she wanted, she was scared he was going to blow her off and she’d forever loose his friendship, but even more so, she was anxious about what will happen if Winn would have a positive response.

There were butterflies in her stomach at the thought, sure, but they were very anxious butterflies.

///

Sunday morning found Kara buried deep inside her dresser, unable to pick an outfit. She didn’t want to go over the top, but she didn’t want to wear her fluffy pajama, either. In the end, she put on a pair of jeans and a Star Labs shirt she stole from Caitlin, last time she was on Earth 1.

She had spent hours the night before, making speeches and scenarios in her head, trying to wrap her mind around what she wanted to tell Winn, trying to find the necessary words to make him understand.

It all got thrown out the window when she opened the door to her apartment.

Winn was dressed very casually, in jeans and a hoodie Kara had seen a billion times before. But he was also smiling softly at her, the tips of his ears the tiniest bit red.

She hadn’t seen him in over two weeks. While her throat got clogged up and every possible world flew out of her head, Kara jumped at Winn, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him as tightly as she could.

He let out a surprised _oomf_ and took an involuntary step back, but Winn straightened up soon enough, wrapping an arm around her waist and chuckling against her hair.

‘You weren’t lying when you said you missed me.’, he seemed surprised by this fact.

Kara didn’t answer, just snuggled harder. They stood like that for a while, until Winn pointed out that he had brought ice cream and it was melting.

///

Winn acted like he owned the place, which was something he always did in Kara’s apartment.

He headed straight to the kitchen, grabbing what he needed before sharing the ridiculous amount of ice cream into two exact portions. Then, he set up the tv, connected it to his drive, starting up the next Stargate episode without even asking which one they were at. He even grabbed Kara’s patented tv-watching-blanket.

All the while, Winn babbled about his time in Star City. He spoke of the city, about what he saw, about the food he ate, the things he brought and, lastly, about the people he met.

‘I met Oliver Queen’s kid.’

Needless to say, Kara stared at him with wide eyes.

‘Yeah, so it appears that on our Earth, Oliver Queen is an accountant. And his daughter is currently studying art at the Star City Community College.’

Kara blinked for a while. ‘No green hood?’

‘No green hood.’, Winn shook his head, sounding very certain.

‘That feels weird.’, Kara admitted, before tilting her head. ‘Who’s the mother?’

‘Smoak Technologies CEO.’, Winn sounded impressed.

Kara just smiled, pretty big, before a thought occurred to her.

‘How did you end up meeting a college girl?’

She might have been too harsh, because Winn pulled a face and started by saying ‘Ew, Kara, no!’

Then he started babbling, quickly.

‘I was sitting in a coffee shop, working on my laptop and she sat down in front of me and asked if I minded if she used me for some sketches for her Study of form class. We ended up talking, especially after she introduced herself as Bella Queen and I noticed that she had some pretty impressive blue eyes.’

Kara had no answer to that, so she said nothing. She was mildly jealous, and just as she realized it, her anxiety kicked back in.

She was supposed to talk to Winn now. She was supposed to tell him how she felt and what she wanted, to make him understand everything and-

‘Kara.’, Winn smiled gently, understanding crossing his features. ‘The ice cream’s melting, let’s watch some Stargate.’

‘But-’

‘Let’s watch some Stargate.’, Winn said with finality, pushing a bowl of ice cream into her lap and starting the episode.

Kara shut her mouth. She couldn’t really shut off her brain, but she shut her mouth.

Winn was too far down the couch, she couldn’t feel his body warmth. She said nothing.

///

Kara managed to push through an episode. She ate the ice cream, got comfortable under the blanket, she managed to look at the tv more than she looked at Winn. But when the episode ended, she couldn’t handle it anymore.

So Kara paused the tv and said Winn name’s, turning around on the couch to properly look at him as she spoke.

He didn’t let her.

‘We don’t have to do this now.’, Winn spoke strongly, but it wasn’t at all angry. ‘We don’t have to talk about it, not now, and not ever.’

‘What if I want to talk about it?’, Kara countered.

He sighed, shaking his head. ‘It was just a job, Kara. All we did, we had to do it for the job.’

‘Not all we did.’, she said after a beat.

It made Winn’s resistance falter. He looked away from Kara, swallowing thickly and pushing his hands into his pockets, so that she wouldn’t see how tightly fisted they were. She still saw.

‘Tell me you didn’t feel it, and I’ll never mention it again.’, she repeated what she said to him at one point, at _Almost Verona_.

‘I did feel it.’, Winn looked to her. ‘But you didn’t.’

‘What if I did?’, came the quick response.

‘No.’, he shook his head quickly. ‘No, Kara, no. You _never_ felt it before, why would you have felt it now? It was just… an issue of circumstance. We were in each other's pockets like never before, for a long time. And we were putting up a show! You just got… lost in that.’

Kara curled in on herself, bringing her knees up to her chest, the blanket falling slowly to the floor. She watched it go, as she spoke.

‘I thought that too’, she admitted. ‘When we were there, I thought… I thought I was weak, and unable to distinguish something real from something made up. But then we came home. And you left.’

‘You had nothing to do with it’, Winn said quickly, making Kara look at him.

‘You still did. You left, and I missed you.’

Again, Winn faltered at that. Kara went on.

‘I missed you in my bed when I went to sleep, and in the morning, when I was making coffee and you weren’t there to cuddle. And every time I saw a book, I thought of how much you hate _Romeo and Juliet_ and every time I put on my suit, I missed you being there to appreciate it.’

She took a deep breath. ‘If what I felt at _Almost Verona_ wasn’t real, then why did I miss you so much? Why did you being away hurt so much?’

‘I never want to hurt you.’, Winn said, clearly startled.

‘I know, I know you don’t. I don’t want to hurt you, either, not ever.’, Kara smiled, a little. ‘It’s why I’m so afraid, now.’

‘You’re afraid?’

She nodded. ‘I’m terrified. I don't want to lose you, Winn. I can’t lose you, it would hurt too much. The both of us, I think.’

Winn nodded at that, slowly. ‘I don’t... Kara, I don’t know what you’re saying. You can’t possibly be-’

‘I’m saying that I’m falling for you.’, she interrupted quickly. ‘I’m saying that us, at _Almost Verona_ , it was real. It felt real, it was something I really want to have in the future. I’m saying that I want to give it a try.’

Her voice shook more than it didn’t, and her hands were shaking as well, but she did say it. Maybe Kara could have said it better, or said more, but she couldn’t say anything else.

So she just stood there, looking hopefully at Winn, with her heart in her extended palm, for him to take or crush.

‘Are you sure?’, he said in a whisper.

There was no hesitation on Kara’s part, not anymore. She said a simple ‘Yes’, pouring all the strength and certainty she had into it.

‘I love you.’, Winn said after a beat. ‘I have for some time now.’

Kara had to smile at that, because the words sounded a lot better coming from Winn’s mouth, than from Rodney’s.

‘I know.’, she smiled, making him chuckle.

But when the smile fell from Winn’s face, he quickly got up.

‘I have to go.’, he looked away from her. ‘I’m sorry, Kara, but I have to think.’

He was gone before she was able to figure out what she wanted to do. Kara turned off the tv, picked up the blanket from the floor, and cried her heart out, thinking that she had truly and irrevocably lost Winn.

///

For three days, Winn kept his distance from Kara. It was even harder than when he was in Star City, because now, they saw each other every day, at the DEO.

Winn tried his damndest not to look at her, he never once addressed her directly, and he got another agent to man the coms when she was on a mission.

It was horrible. It was a sort of pain that Kara had felt before, but it felt like this was something she wouldn’t be able to recover from. As ridiculous as it sounded, Kara felt as hurt and desperate as she did on the day Krypton exploded.

Alex was her only comfort, even if she kept comparing the situation with that of her and Maggie. It was different from that, Kara felt, but their pain might have been comparable.

So the two sisters spent their evenings on the couch, with bottles of beer and the most ridiculous movies they could get their hands on.

‘I caught a conversation between J’onn and Winn today.’, Alex said on the third night. ‘They were talking about you.’

‘What about me?’

‘I don’t know how it started, but J’onn said that he understood, but he couldn’t afford to have the two of you fighting. Winn agreed.’

‘We’re not fighting, though, are we?’, Kara couldn’t help but point out.

‘Winn promised he’ll fix it, as soon as he could.’

‘I want to be hopeful, but I have no idea what he means by that.’

‘Hopefully it won’t be long before you find out.’, Alex said kindly.

Kara shook her head. Since they came back from _Almost Verona_ , she dreamt about Winn every night. Sometimes he was in her bed, sometimes they were in the kitchen, or back at the resort. But every time, Winn was close in these dreams. He was warm by her side, and sweet with his kisses, and Kara always woke up feeling terribly alone, with a burning need inside of her chest. Still, she made no move to stop her dreams, even if she knew how. They were better than nothing.

///

‘Where’s Winn?’

Upon hearing the words, Kara slowly looked up from her desk to see Lena leaning over her.

‘You know, Winn, your boyfriend?’, Lena raised an unimpressed brow. ‘The guy I had no idea you were dating?’

She really didn’t want to get into it. ‘He’s at work, I guess.’

‘No, he’s not.’, Lena frowned. ‘I met him in the parking lot an hour ago.’

Before Kara got to say she had no idea what Lena was talking about, her phone ringed with a text.

‘There he is.’, Lena smiled after seeing Winn’s name on the phone. ‘It’s just about time you took your lunch, isn’t it?’

Kara blinked. ‘Lunch was three hours ago.’

‘And did you eat?’, Lena insisted.

Kara shook her head, opening the text. It was a simple _Meet me on the roof, please_ , but it instantly made her heart go haywire.

Lena touched her shoulder and smiled, teasingly. ‘Go get him!’

She didn’t need to be told twice.

///

Winn was standing fairly close to the edge of the roof, looking at the horizon. He had the hoodie on, which meant he hadn’t been at work that day.

He heard her footsteps, but didn’t turn around to face her. As she got to his side, he tilted his head to acknowledge her arrival, but Winn kept silent.

Kara’s heart was beating wildly, she could feel the blood flowing rapidly through her veins. She felt the need for him, deep inside her chest, it was a known companion by now. She also felt a dark pit in her stomach, made out of apprehension and fear. It was the strongest feeling, the fear of losing Winn, alongside the desperation to do anything in her power to stop that from happening.

But Kara didn’t have any power, now. The ball was in Winn’s court, and he was keeping silent.

She felt like crying.

Finally, Winn tore his eyes away from the horizon. He took a deep breath before turning to look at her. He even smiled, small and sweet, and Kara tried her best to answer him in the same manner.

Her hands were shaking.

‘Thank you for meeting me.’, Winn started.

She managed a nod.

‘I thought this would be fitting.’, he went on, waving an arm towards the rest of the roof. ‘This is where you told me you were Supergirl.’

‘I remember’, Kara chuckled. ‘You thought I was gay.’

‘So much has happened since then.’, his expression became serious. ‘But that’s the day my life changed.’

‘That’s when you started working with superheroes.’

‘Yeah. I wouldn’t change that for the world.’

‘But?’, she shakiky asked when he didn’t continue.

‘But that’s not the day my whole life _with you_ changed.’

‘When did it?’, she didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer, but she needed to hear it.

‘There was a day, when you came to work wearing a My Chemical Romance tshirt.’, Winn was smiling as he spoke. ‘You paired it with a skirt and heels, and it looked cool, but Mrs. Grant still berated you for it, on and on, no matter how many times you explained your washing machine broke down and you didn’t have the time to go to a laundromat.’

‘That was…’, Kara breathed out. ‘it was months before Supergirl.’

‘Cat ordered you to go change’, he went on like she didn’t say anything, ‘but Mrs. Grant also gave you a lot of work to do, you didn’t have time to go shopping. So you-’

‘I took your shirt.’, Kara suddenly remembered. ‘You had a spare one in your desk.’

‘Yeah.’, Winn’s smile turned into a grin. ‘You spent the day in heels, a pretty skirt, and my dark blue plaid dress shirt.’

The smile went away from Winn’s face, but not the soft, fond way he was looking at her.

‘That was the day everything changed, for us, because that was when I realised I was in love with you.’

Kara couldn’t breathe anymore.

‘It sounds like such a stupid male thing, loving someone when you see them wearing your clothes. But that’s not what happened.’

Winn took a deep breath, slowly wrapping his fingers around hers. The shaking in Kara’s hands stopped when her skin touched his, but she had to take a very deep breath.

‘I started falling in love with you long before that, Kara. Long before you became Supergirl, before my dad was wreaking havoc and I couldn’t keep my feelings bottled up anymore, before Lyra and James and Mon-El and long, very long before _Almost Verona_.’

‘I know.’, Kara managed to whisper, making Winn glare, albeit mildly, at her.

‘Stop Star Wars-ing me, Kara.'

She shut her mouth.

‘Because of that’, Winn went on, ‘when you told me you were falling in love with me, it felt… Unfair. Because I’ve been at it for years, and you only just started because we had to make out for a bunch of creepy aliens.’

‘I understand that.’, Kara admitted. The truth was she agreed with Winn. It was incredibly unfair to him, and she wished it had happened some other time, someplace else.

‘I needed to think’, Winn went on, ‘because after all this time, it just didn’t feel possible.’

‘But it is.’, Kara found her voice. ‘It’s possible, and it happened, and it’s real. I’m sorry it happened the way it did, where and when it did. It’s… Messed up, I know. But-’

‘You’re not in love with me.’, Winn frowned.

‘Not yet.’, came Kara’s quick response, paired with her squeezing his finger. ‘Not yet, but I’m close.’

‘How close?’, he took a step closer to her.

‘Very.’, Kara admitted with a shaky breath.

‘I’m scared.’, Winn let out a long breath. ‘You broke my heart before.’

‘I’m scared too, I’m terrified.’

‘You’re shaking.’, he whispered, looking down at their clasped hands.

She was indeed shaking, her hands at least. Her knees didn’t feel too sturdy either.

‘I’m terrified.’, Kara said again. ‘I don’t want to lose your friendship, but I want…’

‘What?’, Winn whispered when she didn’t go on. ‘What do you want from me, Kara?’

‘Cuddles over morning coffee.’, she said in a rush. ‘To finish watching Stargate Universe together. Kisses when I get to the DEO, date night to the movies and stupid selfies on Instagram and-’

Winn let go of her hand, but he didn’t pull away, so Kara went on.

‘And I want you to keep me warm at night.’, her voice started shaking, but it didn’t stop her. ‘I want everyone to know we’re together, to take you to Midvale for Thanksgiving and I want to hug you and kiss you-’

She was cut off by Winn, who in a move that would have made the Flash look slow, used both of his hands to gently grab her neck and kiss her.

It surprised her, of course, but not to the point of freezing. Kara took no time to go with it. She relaxed her body, pressing it against Winn’s, as she grabbed a hold of his hoodie and held on for dear life. 

The kiss was a slow one, sweet and gentle, and it was a complete mirror to all the feelings tangling up in Kara’s chest. Most of all, she felt relieved, that Winn didn’t push her away, that he still had feelings for her, that he trusted her feelings for him. Kara also felt immensely glad for it, and giddy for what was to come, so she couldn’t help but smile against Winn’s lips.

He was the one who stopped the kiss, quickly enough, but he didn’t push away. Instead, Winn pressed their foreheads together. They shared the same breaths, both of them still breathing heavily.

‘You’re still shaking.’, he whispered, and he was right.

Kara was, indeed, still shaking. Her hands, still grabbing at his hoodie, and her knees too, far worse than before.

‘For different reasons.’, she admitted.

Winn smirked at that. He also moved his hands, from her neck to her waist, wrapping them very tightly against Kara. It almost threw her off her feet, and she probably would have went down, but she managed to hold herself up by pushing her body completely against Winn, leaning her hands on his chest.

He didn’t let her catch her breath, kissing Kara again. This time, Winn wasn’t all that soft and gentle. This kiss was … more. More than the one before, more closer to the kisses they shared at _Almost Verona_ , more than Kara could have hoped for.

All the calm that Kara felt in her chest before was replaced with excitement, strong and loud. The desire from those three weeks returned with a vengeance, even that was more now, now that she knew she could have it. She could have Winn, a life together with him, more so than their friendship before.

She could have Winn. She _had_ Winn, right in her arms.

And he was kissing her desperately, sloppily, stronger than ever before. Her knees buckled, Winn’s hold of her tightening ever more, even as he moved one of his hands lower onto her ass. Her hands were on his neck, nails digging slightly in his skin, their chests were pressed together, their hips and their knees.

Kara felt hot, all over, at every point of contact, from her lips to her chest, from her fingertips to her knees. Her heart was on fire, her stomach was flipping in sync with the movements of Winn’s tongue, and her entire lower body was pulsating.

When he bit on her lower lip, dragging it down in a torturous tease, Kara gasped, and had to stop the kiss. Mercifully, Winn let her. He still held her tightly, but he pushed their cheeks together, as they both caught their breaths.

It took a while, for them to go back to something resembling normality. Winn grabbed her face again, gently, pressing his lips very sweetly to her forehead.

‘Kara.’, he smiled. ‘Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?’

‘No.’, she grinned at him. ‘I want you to come over with takeout and watch Stargate with me.’

Winn laughed, hard and loud. He also grabbed her waist and, like he did in the dance hall at _Almost Verona_ , lifted Kara off the ground and spun her around a few times. She laughed as well, holding on lightly to his shoulders, trusting Winn completely to not let her fall from his hold.

And even if she did fall, even over the ledge of the building, it was alright, she could fly. Kara even felt like flying.

///

An hour later, she got a text from Alex, who informed her Supergirl could take a night off, and that the DEO will be coordinating for patrol.

Alex also urged Kara to sleep with Winn, because _you both need to fucking relax_. Needles to say, she did not get a reply.

///

Winn came in with a big smile on his face, in sweatpants and a loose sweater, his hands filled with food. He still kissed Kara hello, three increasingly longer kisses before he pried himself away.

The clock struck 3 am when they finished all of Stargate Universe. By that point, Winn was all but lying down on the couch and Kara was half sprawled over him. One of his hands was sitting comfortably on her ass, the other one higher on her back, while Kara had an arm thrown over his waist, the other one playing with Winn’s hair.

Neither of them moved when the last episode ended.

Thankfully, Kara wasn’t crying. She wasn’t too far from it, but there were definitely no tears on her cheeks. Winn probably knew, because he smiled teasingly at her, drumming his fingers gently.

‘You good?’, he whispered.

Kara only nodded, turning her head to be able to look at him properly. She smiled, she wasn't really able to stop doing that.

‘Are you good?’, she countered.

‘Pretty good.’, Winn snorted. ‘Pretty damn good.’

They just looked at each other for a while, fond smiles on their faces, blushes on their cheeks. Kara doesn’t know who moved first, but then they were kissing. Softly, at first, with Winn’s thumb running circles on her waist, Kara’s fingers still playing with his hair.

Too soon for her to comprehend, the kiss turned wild. Kara was gasping against Winn’s mouth, his hands were on her breasts, on her ass, on her neck, everywhere, all at once. She was straddling his hips, moving against Winn in a desperate, shameless search of relief. There were moans filling the otherwise silent loft, Kara didn’t know where hers ended and his started.

Winn was the one to stop, and it took Kara a few seconds to understand that’s what he did. He had frozen completely, his entire body stopping its movement, even if his hands were still under her shirt.

Breathing heavily, Kara looked to him. His eyes were wide, his pupils completely dilated, his cheeks were red, his lips were shiny, there was a bead of sweat on his temple. His hair was ridiculously askew, all her doing.

He wasn’t the most beautiful thing Kara had seen, but Winn was giving the stars a good run for their money.

‘It’s very late.’, he finally said. ‘I should go.’

Kara gulped. ‘If you want.’

‘And if I don’t want?’, Winn asked after a beat.

‘We don’t have to do anything.’, Kara smiled. ‘I’m fine with cuddling and sleeping.’

That made him smile, slowly but surely.

‘Cuddling and sleeping. Sounds great.’

So to the bed, they went. Kara put on something resembling a pajama, Winn took off his sweatpants and hoodie and they quickly got under the covers. There was no hesitation, on neither of their parts, they wrapped themselves around one other instantly.

Winn was a furnace that surrounded Kara and really, she relished in the warmth. She had been craving this for weeks, to fall asleep in his arms, to feel his breath against her neck and sync her breathing to his.

He kissed her cheek, whispered a very contempt ‘Good night!’, as he snuggled deeper into the sheets and her hold. Kara fell asleep surprisingly fast.

///

She woke up two hours later, just as the sun was starting to come up.

Winn was hard against her ass, one of his knees was pushed up right between her thighs, his skin felt even hotter than before, one of his hands was on her breast and he was, surprisingly so, fast asleep.

Kara felt a desperate, flaming need, that made it impossible for her to even think about going back to sleep. So she woke Winn up with a filthy kiss and a strategically placed hand. While it took awhile for him to properly wake up and understand what was happening, it didn’t take as long for him to kiss her back and moan against her lips.

This, Kara had been craving this since _Almost Verona_. She knew, that Winn had wanted it for a lot longer than that, but even so, he was still hesitating. Kara didn’t hesitate, and she didn’t hold back either.

Her boldness and really, her desperation, it made Winn come out of his shell. Or maybe it was Kara’s hand sneaking up under his boxers just as she bit on his collarbone. The sex they had that morning was as quick as it was desperate, as fun as it was harsh, as relaxing as it was tiring.

When it was done, they were waiting to catch their breaths, side by side on the bed, sheets tangled and clothes thrown all over, sweat on their bodies and somehow, somehow!, still holding hands. Kara managed to turn around and press her forehead to his shoulder, but that was all she could muster.

‘Well good morning to you too!’, Winn breathed out, sounding incredulously in awe.

Kata started laughing, pretty hysterically and she didn’t stop for a long time, not until Winn kissed her again.

///

Three days later, Kara was having a bit of a deja-vu.

She was, once again, in the conference room at the DEO, with Winn, Alex and J’onn. This was where it all started, and Kara felt a little anxious, walking in, thinking that they were going to be sent on another mission.

That was not the case.

Things were different now, than the last time they were in the room. Winn was holding her hand, Alex was trying really hard not to laugh, and J’onn was struggling to act as professional and authorative as possible as he walked them through the DEO rulebook chapters involving agents fraternizing.

Kara kept her mouth shut through it, and didn’t fly off, but only because Winn promised that, if she managed to survive this, he’ll let her choose the next tv show they watched.

She was thinking Supernatural. 13 seasons of cuddling with Winn while they discussed monsters and brotherly angst, it sounded pretty amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far, thank you! Tell me how your reader experience went :)


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